The great Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu, though renowned for his poetic brilliance and extraordinary talent, never enjoyed a smooth official career.
In 747 AD, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty issued an imperial decree summoning talented individuals from across the realm to the capital Chang'an for official examinations. The poet Du Fu, then residing in Chang'an, eagerly participated, hoping to showcase his scholarly brilliance.
However, the chief examiner appointed by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang was the treacherous chancellor Li Linfu, who had no interest in selecting genuinely talented individuals, so despite Du Fu's outstanding performance in the examination, he was ultimately not admitted.
Du Fu was utterly disheartened. From then on, he drifted through Chang'an, living a life dependent on others. Prince Li Jin of Ruyang and the imperial son-in-law Zheng Qian greatly admired his poetic talent, and whenever they held a banquet, they would summon Du Fu to compose poems. To make ends meet, Du Fu had no choice but to attend these social gatherings, using his poetry to entertain them, yet his heart was filled with bitterness.
Among the officials Du Fu befriended, Wei Ji, the Left Chancellor of the Ministry, was one of his closest. One day, Wei Ji invited Du Fu to a banquet at his mansion. During the meal, Wei Ji asked, "Could you compose a poem for me?" Du Fu then wrote "Presented to Left Chancellor Wei." In the poem, he recounted thirty years of wandering, lamenting his unrecognized talent, and penned the lines: "Thirty years on a donkey's back, scraping by in the capital's spring; cold leftovers and stale meals, bitterness everywhere I go."
These lines mean: I have lived a wandering life on a donkey for thirty years, and now in the capital, I am practically begging for food. I drink leftover wine and eat cold leftover meat from others. Thinking of this, my heart is filled with deep sorrow.
However, even a high-ranking official like Wei Ji, who had a decent friendship with Du Fu, only regarded him as a literary hanger-on. After Du Fu had lived in Chang'an for nine years, Wei Ji never recommended him to the court.
It was not until the 14th year of the Tianbao era (755 AD) that Du Fu was appointed a minor official managing weapons and armor, ending his life of "leftover cups and cold meat." Later, the idiom "leftover cups and cold meat" came to refer to the charity of the nobility.
Source: Du Fu (Tang Dynasty), *Fengzeng Wei Zuocheng*
Meaning of the Idiom: Later, the Chinese idiom "残杯冷炙" came to describe how the idiom leftover cups and cold meat came to refer to the charity of the nobility.