In the Spring and Autumn Period, Kind Jing of the state of Jin fell ill. One night he dreamed that the diease turned into two small figures talking beside him. One said, "I'm afraid the doctor will hurt us." The other said, "Dont worry. We can hide above huang and below gao. Then the doctor will be able to do nothing to us."

The next day, having examined the king, the doctor said, "Your disease is incurable¹, I am afraid, Your Majesty². It's above huang and below gao, where no medicine can reach."

This idiom indicates a hopeless condition.