倾家荡产
qīng jiā dàng chǎn · HSK 7
to lose a family fortune (idiom)
💸🏚️ 倾家荡产 = 倾 overturn + 家 home + 荡 sweep away + 产 assets
A four-part idiom: tip over the household (倾家) and squander away the property (荡产). It names the ruin of spending or losing every last bit of a family's wealth.
家 — roof 宀 + pig 豕
Originally a pictograph of a pig under a roof, since domesticated pigs were kept in or under the home in ancient China. Over time the meaning broadened from 'household' to 'family,' and by extension 'home' or a specialist (as in 专家, 'expert').
产 — 产 = 立 (stand) + 厂 (cliff/factory)
Originally written 產, depicting birth or production, with 生 (to be born/grow) as the semantic element and 彥 reduced as phonetic. The simplified form 产 keeps the top portion only. Its core meaning shifted from 'giving birth' to broader senses of 'produce, output, property.'