10 Romantic Chinese Idioms for Qixi Festival (七夕)

Treat others as yourself

Literal: Exchange heart for heart

This idiom emerged during the Han Dynasty, expressing the profound concept of exchanging (换) one heart (心) for another (以). It first appeared in diplomatic texts describing the ideal approach to building trust between warring states. The repetition of '心' (heart) emphasizes genuine reciprocity rathe...

Love extends to all connections

Literal: Love house and its crow

This tender expression describes how love (爱) for a house (屋) extends (及) even to the crow (乌) perched on its roof. Dating back to the Warring States period, it first appeared in texts discussing how affection naturally spreads to associated things. The crow, often considered an unremarkable bird, b...

Lower one's guard

Literal: Drop heart light

A Warring States period warning about the dangers of dropping (掉) one's guard with a light (轻) heart (心). The idiom gained significance through military treatises where letting down one's vigilance often led to defeat. Historical accounts detail numerous battles lost due to overconfidence rather tha...

Words differ from thoughts

Literal: Mouth yes heart no

Originating in Tang Dynasty Buddhist texts discussing the alignment of speech and thought, this idiom describes when the mouth (口) says yes (是) but the heart (心) means no (非). It became a key concept in Song Dynasty moral philosophy, where scholars debated the ethics of social courtesy versus absolu...

Invest utmost effort and emotion

Literal: Vomit heart drip blood

This visceral idiom describes effort so intense it's like vomiting (呕) one's heart (心) and dripping (沥) blood (血), first appearing in Tang Dynasty literary criticism. It originally described the suffering of poets who created through intense emotional labor. Scholar Han Yu used it to explain how gre...

Deeply and permanently affected

Literal: Carve bone inscribe heart

This profound idiom describes experiences so intense they seem carved (刻) into one's bones (骨) and inscribed (铭) in the heart (心), emerging from Han Dynasty ancestral worship practices, where important family events were literally carved into bone tokens for remembrance. The phrase gained emotional ...

Restless, unfocused mind

Literal: Heart monkey mind horse

This restless idiom compares the heart/mind (心) to a monkey (猿) and thoughts/intentions (意) to a galloping horse (马), originating from Buddhist meditation texts during the Tang Dynasty. It described the challenging experience of untamed consciousness constantly jumping between objects of attention. ...

Courage balanced with careful attention

Literal: Bold gallbladder, careful heart

This balanced idiom pairs a large gallbladder (胆大, representing courage) with a fine/careful heart (心细), originating from Ming Dynasty military manuals. Traditional Chinese medicine associated the gallbladder with courage and decision-making, while the heart governed careful thinking. The combinatio...

Using completely wrong method for a task

Literal: Climb tree seek fish

Mencius first used this vivid image of climbing trees (缘木) to catch fish (求鱼) in the 4th century BCE, criticizing approaches that ignore natural principles. The absurdity of seeking aquatic life in arboreal settings perfectly captured the futility of mismatched methods and goals. Han Dynasty politic...

Cherish something too much to put it down

Literal: Love not release hand

Song Dynasty connoisseurs first used this phrase to describe loving something so much (爱) one cannot (不) release (释) it from hand (手). Their writings captured that special attachment collectors feel toward precious artifacts. Ming Dynasty poets expanded it to embrace emotional attachments beyond phy...