Luoyang (洛陽) was once the capital of the Western Jin Dynasty (A.D. 265–316) in China. This idiom is a classical allusion, or diǎn gù (典故), and it originated from the Book of Jin: Biographies of Zuo.
Writer and poet, Zuo Si (A.D. 250–305) came from humble origins, but he worked hard and spent 10 years writing and completing the Ode to the Three Capitals. This famous work describes the customs, habits, and daily living in the three capitals established during the Three Kingdoms period. It includes the “Shu (蜀) Capital Rhapsody,” the “Wu (吴) Capital Rhapsody,” and the “Wei (魏) Capital Rhapsody.”
The main theme of the book discusses how the proper way to govern a state is through promoting virtue, and not through the use of force. Once it was prefaced and received commentary by notable scholars of the day, the book quickly became very popular among the royal court and people of high rank.
Many of them were eager to read the book and to make copies of it to keep. Because of this high demand, the price of paper in Luoyang suddenly increased. Hence, the idiom “paper becomes expensive in Luoyang City” vividly depicts the popularity of someone’s writing.
The idiom “Luò yáng -zhǐ guì” (洛陽紙貴) is still widely used today to describe the sensational popularity of a new book, or of newly published books that are in high demand. When Chinese-language media report on bestselling books, they often use this idiom.
Examples of this can be found in the Chinese media coverage of such popular books as The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Harry Potter series, and other bestsellers.
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