What's the difference between these two Chinese idioms?
爱屋及乌 (love the house, love the crow on it) is about loving everything associated with someone you love, while 一见钟情 is love at first sight. Extended love vs instant love.
ài wū jí wū
“Love extends to all connections”
Literally: Love house and its crow
Loving (爱) a house (屋) and extending that (及) even to the crows (乌) on its roof. The formulation comes from an early gloss on the Zhou conquest — he who loves a man loves even the crows on his roof — and the crow is chosen because it is the least lovable bird available, which is the entire force of ...
Example: She loved her friend so much that she even cherished her friend's peculiar habits
Chinese: 她如此喜欢她的朋友，连朋友的怪癖也觉得可爱
yī jiàn zhōng qíng
“Love at first sight”
Literally: One glance, feelings concentrate
At a single (一) sight (见), the feeling (情) gathers (钟). 钟 is the interesting character. Simplified Chinese has merged two of them, and the one here is 鍾, a wine vessel whose extended sense is to gather or concentrate — not 鐘, the bell. So what is described is the whole of somebody's affection collec...
Example: He fell in love with her the moment he saw her.
Chinese: 他第一眼见到她就一见钟情。
| Aspect | 爱屋及乌 | 一见钟情 |
|---|---|---|
| Pinyin | ài wū jí wū | yī jiàn zhōng qíng |
| Literal Meaning | Love house and its crow | One glance, feelings concentrate |
| Used For | Love extends to all connections | Love at first sight |
| Theme | Relationships & Character | Relationships & Character |
| Example | She loved her friend so much that she even cherished her friend's peculiar habits | He fell in love with her the moment he saw her. |
爱屋及乌 (love the house, love the crow on it) is about loving everything associated with someone you love, while 一见钟情 is love at first sight. Extended love vs instant love.
爱屋及乌 literally means "Love house and its crow" and is used to describe "Love extends to all connections." Loving (爱) a house (屋) and extending that (及) even to the crows (乌) on its roof. The formulation comes from an early gloss on the Zhou conquest — he who loves a man loves even the crows on his roof —
一见钟情 literally means "One glance, feelings concentrate" and is used to describe "Love at first sight." At a single (一) sight (见), the feeling (情) gathers (钟). 钟 is the interesting character. Simplified Chinese has merged two of them, and the one here is 鍾, a wine vessel whose extended sense is to gathe
Use 爱屋及乌 when you want to emphasize "Love extends to all connections." Use 一见钟情 when you want to emphasize "Love at first sight." 爱屋及乌 (love the house, love the crow on it) is about loving everything associated with someone you love, while 一见钟情 is love at first sight. Extended love vs instant love.