trace to the very source of sth.

trace to the very source of sth.

Tracing back to the source, the Chinese idiom, Pinyin is Qi ó ngyu á ns ù Li ú, which originally means upstream to explore the source of the river. It is a metaphor to explore and trace the cause of things. It's from burning the lamp.

Idiom explanation

Source: where the river originates; trace: upstream. It used to mean going upstream to explore the source of a river. It is a metaphor to explore and trace the cause of things.

The origin of Idioms

According to he Shiling's "notes on burning lamps" in the Qing Dynasty, "poetry should be traced back to its source, and the schools of various schools should be identified first."

Idiom usage

As predicate and object; the same as "Qiongyuan Jingwei"