prize one copper as highly as one 's life(yī qián rú mìng)

prize one copper as highly as one 's life

Money is like life, a Chinese idiom, Pinyin is y ī Qi á NR ú m ì ng, which means to value money as much as life. It's from flowers in the mirror.

Idiom explanation

Take a money as important as life. The metaphor is extreme stinginess.

The origin of Idioms

The 23rd chapter of Jing Hua Yuan written by Li Ruzhen in Qing Dynasty: "who knows that these poor people are as rich as their life. They always want to be cheap and refuse to bid very much."

Idiom usage

It is used as predicate and attributive to describe a person who keeps money

Examples

This group of compradors are usually free. (Chapter 24 of Wu Jianren's the strange situation witnessed in 20 years in Qing Dynasty)

Chinese PinYin : yī qián rú mìng