Chinese idioms about love
Some Chinese sayings concerning the allure and perils of love.
落叶归根 [落叶歸根]
fall leaf return root
Fallen leaves return to the root
Returning to place of birth
There's no place like home
一见钟情 [一見鍾情]
once see deep affection
Upon first seeing fall madly in love
To fall in love at first sight
度日如年 [度日如年]
pass day as year
Each day passes as a year
Time seems to pass very slowly
Time drags on
心若死灰
heart like dead ash
Heart reduced to ashes
Desperately unhappy
举案齐眉 [舉案齊眉]
lift table level with eyebrow
Lifting the tray up to the eyebrows
Showing respect and affection for someone. It is a traditional show of respect to lift a tray high when presenting food to a respected guest. Lasting love and consideration
一日三秋
one day three years
One day seems like three years
To miss somebody very much
Absence makes the heart grow fonder
爱不释手 [愛不釋手]
love not let go hand
Locked in love's clutches
月到中秋分外明, 每逢佳节倍思亲 [月到中秋分外明每逢佳節倍思親]
moon arrive mid-autumn divide outside bright every occurrence fetival joyous times think parent
The moon is brightest at the Mid-Autumn Festival, and the feeling of homesickness will be strongest during the festival
Longing to see family from far away
There's no place like home
千金买笑 [千金買笑]
thousand gold buy smile
A smile costing a thousand ounces of gold
A target that is very hard to attain. Spending lavishly to attract an alluring woman, A variant of the proverb uses ''horses bones' 买骨 instead of a smile but the meaning is the same - needless extravagance.
雪里送炭
snow neighbourhood deliver charcoal
Send charcoal in a snow storm
To offer assistance when it is needed
A friend in need is a friend indeed
千里送鹅毛 [千里送鵝毛]
thousand Chinese mile deliver swan feather
A swan feather from a thousand miles away
Showing appreciation on receiving a gift that shows the sender has taken time and trouble to choose it. Traveling a very long way to deliver what seems to be a trifle. The tale is from the Tang dynasty, when Mian Bogai sent a gift of a special swan to the Emperor. However the feather was all that was left from a swan when he arrived. So this is a rejoinder when someone receives a gift that is seemingly of low value.
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth
倾城倾国 [傾城傾國]
collapse city overturn country
Triumph over city and country
Overwhelm the entire area. Usually applied to a woman of outstanding beauty.
The face that launched a thousand ships
爱屋及乌 [愛屋及烏]
love house reach crow
Strong love that encompasses all, including the crow sitting on the roof
In love with everything in the world
Love is blind
舐犊之爱 [舐犢之愛]
lick calf's love
The love of a cow licking her calf
An example of parental love and devotion. A biased assessment due to family ties - caring for one's own relatives
The fruit does not fall far from the tree
皮之不存毛将焉附 [皮之不存毛將焉附]
skin no exist hair support how add
If the skin is missing hair can not grow
Everything needs its proper environment for nurture
No man is an island
香消玉损 [香消玉損]
fragrant vanish jade broken
Fragrance is dissipated; jade is broken
Spoken of on the death of a beautiful young woman
Whom the Gods love die young
笑一笑,十年少 [笑一笑十年少]
smile a smile, 10 year less
Just one smile makes you ten years younger
Happiness is the best cosmetic
儿行千里母担忧 [兒行千里母擔憂]
child travel 1000 mile mother undertake worry
When children travel far away the mother worries
Mothers will always worry about their children
百闻不如一见 [百聞不如一見]
hundred hear not like one see
Hearing a hundred times is not as good as seeing once
Delighted to meet you in person at last. Seeing at first hand gives valuable information. The story is of a Han dynasty veteran general Zhao Chongguo who went to see the situation for himself at the frontier rather than relying on secondhand reports. His wise analysis quickly solved the problem with the incursions of northern tribes
Seeing is believing
感恩图报 [感恩圖報]
feeling kindness plan recompense
Gratefully returning kindness
Repaying a debt of kindness. The story is from the Zhou dynasty when the state of Wu was mounting a war against the state of Zheng. A Zheng fisherman offered to try to stop the conflict. He boldly went to the enemy general Wu Zixu and reminded him that his father had saved Wu's life a long time ago. The general then recalled the incident and in repayment of the kindness called off his attack on Zheng.
One good turn deserves another
树高千丈叶落归根 [樹高千丈叶落歸根]
tree tall 1000 length leaf fall return root
A tree may grow high, but its leaves always fall on its roots
People living far away will eventually comes back home
Absence makes the heart grow fonder
生活有爱幸福,为爱生活愚蠢 [生活有愛幸福為愛生活愚蠢]
produce live have love good fortune, pride love produce live foolish
A life of love is happy; a life for love is foolish
Love is not the most important thing
藕断丝连 [藕斷絲連]
lotus root break silken thread links
Although the lotus root may be cut, its fibered threads are still connected
Friendship survives adversity
秀色可餐
beautiful appearance can eat
A lovely sight to feast the eyes on
A beautiful woman
A feast for the eyes
指桑骂槐 [指桑罵槐]
finger mulberry blame locust tree
Pointing to the mulberry tree when the locust tree is to blame
Deliberately deflecting criticism to someone or something else - often to protect friends or family
倒屣相迎
backwards slippers mutually welcome
Putting on shoes the wrong way aroung when greeting a guest
So keen to meet a guest that shoes are put on the wrong way around. Excitement about meeting someone idolized.
Go weak at the knees
Image by Gernot Kurze ➚ available under a Creative Commons license ➚
不知肉味
not know meat smell
Not notice the smell of meat
Totally entranced and distracted. The story is from the Analects of Confucius. The great sage was walking in woodland and heard someone performing Shao music. He was so entranced by the blissful sound that he could not be distracted even by the smell of roasting meat (then a rare treat).
Lost touch with reality
琴瑟和鸣 [琴瑟咊鳴]
guqin harp harmony song
Qin and harp in harmony
In blissful harmony. The story is from the Song dynasty when Zhao Mingcheng and Li Qingzhao fell in love and lived a life of bliss. They collected ancient inscriptions and played the guqin (type of zither) and harp together. Tragedy struck when the Jurchen invaded Shandong. The couple fled south to Hangzhou but Zhao died and Li spent 25 years as a mournful widow.
A match made in heaven
情人眼里出西施
lover eye inside produce Xi Shi
The lover's eye sees the legendary beauty of Xi Shi in his plain mistress
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
Love is blind
破镜重圆 [破鏡重圓]
broken mirror again round
A broken mirror remade
A reunion after a couple are separated or patching up after a quarrel. There are several legends in China about a couple who on separation each took one half of a mirror (which used to be of bronze) and when they eventually they are reunited they found each other by matching up the two pieces of mirror.
离乡背井 [离鄉背井]
leave village behind well
Leave one's own village
A stranger away from home
酒肉朋友
wine meat friends
Friends only for the food and drink
Cupboard love
Fair weather friends
高山流水
high mountain flow water
High mountains and flowing water
A description of beautiful music and by analogy a deep friendship.
Boon companion
一狐之腋
single fox's underfur
The underfur of a fox
The underfur of a fox is so soft that is highly valued. Something of great value to someone
天作之合
heaven make someone close
Heaven made intimacy
Blissful affection
Marriage made in heaven
胶漆相投 [膠漆相投]
glue paint mutually refuge
As close as glue and paint
A loyal and strong friendship.
Our proverbs come with full information. The modern Chinese characters are given first with links that give information on the character. As proverbs are so old you will often see them written using the traditional form of characters; so if of the characters have been simplified the phrase is shown in brackets and gray text. . The characters are followed by the proverb (Chengyu) in pinyin. Next, there is a crude character by character transliteration into English, followed by a more accurate English translation. If this is a Chinese proverb alluding to history the meaning may still not be clear in English, so the general meaning follows. Finally some proverbs have fairly direct English equivalents, if so the English proverb is shown.
Our translations are in need of improvement, so please let us know your ideas. For background on the types and history of proverbs please see our guide.