🪙 此地无银三百两 cǐ dì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng – “No Silver Buried Here!”

🪙 此地无银三百两 cǐ dì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng – “No Silver Buried Here!”

🔍 What It Means

此地无银三百两 (cǐ dì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng) literally means

“There’s no 300 taels of silver buried here.”

But of course — if someone says that, they’ve just revealed exactly where the silver is.

It describes a person who tries too hard to hide something, and ends up making it more obvious.


📖 Word-for-word:

  • 此地 (cǐ dì) – this place
  • 无 (wú) – no / without
  • 银 (yín) – silver
  • 三百两 (sān bǎi liǎng) – 300 taels (old Chinese currency unit)


💬 In English, it’s like:

  • 🙈 “A guilty mind shows itself.”
  • 🗣️ “They protest too much.”
  • 🪧 “Nothing to see here!” (which clearly means there is)

🏺 Where It Comes From

This idiom comes from a funny folk tale in ancient China.


A man wanted to hide his 300 taels of silver. So he buried it in the ground behind his house.


But he was nervous. What if someone found it? To feel safer, he put up a wooden sign that said:


“There’s no 300 taels of silver buried here!”


Of course, his neighbor saw the sign. That night, the neighbor dug up the silver and ran off. To be clever, he added a second sign:


“Your neighbor didn’t take the silver.”


That’s how 此地无银三百两 (cǐ dì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng) became a way to mock people who expose themselves while trying to cover something up.

💬 How to Use It

Use 此地无银三百两 (cǐ dì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng) when:

  • Someone tries to hide something, but ends up making it more suspicious
  • A lie or secret is revealed by over-explaining or denying too much
  • You’re joking about someone being bad at covering up


✅ Often used in daily conversation, news, or online comments

❌ Not used in formal or serious praise

🎯 Real Examples

1.

他说他没偷手机，结果一直解释了半天，此地无银三百两！

(Tā shuō tā méi tōu shǒujī, jiéguǒ yìzhí jiěshì le bàntiān, cǐ dì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng!)

👉🏻 He said he didn’t steal the phone… but kept explaining for ages. That’s totally giving himself away!


2.

老板还没问，经理就开始说报销是真的，简直是此地无银三百两。

（Lǎobǎn hái méi wèn, jīnglǐ jiù kāishǐ shuō bàoxiāo shì zhēn de, jiǎnzhí shì cǐ dì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng.）

👉🏻 The boss hadn’t even asked yet, but the manager was already defending the report — suspicious much?

⚠️ Common Mistakes (Watch Out!)

❌ Mistake: Thinking it means “no money here” literally

✅ Correct: It’s about accidentally revealing what you’re trying to hide

💡 Memory Tip

Image

Imagine someone buries treasure.

To “hide” it, they post a sign that says:

“There’s no treasure buried here.”

Would anyone believe that?


That’s 此地无银三百两 (cǐ dì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng) — the harder you try to hide it, the more obvious it becomes.

🧩 Interactive Practice

Translate this sentence into English:

  • 他越说不是他干的，我越觉得他就是。此地无银三百两！

Answer:

  • The more he says he didn’t do it, the more I think he did. He totally gave himself away!

🌟 Final Thoughts

此地无银三百两 (cǐ dì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng) reminds us:

Sometimes, trying too hard to cover up just makes things worse.

Keep it simple.

Say less.

Let the truth speak for itself.


Ask yourself:

Are you over-explaining something that doesn’t need to be explained?

👉 Love this? The next idiom’s waiting here