沉魚落雁

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See also: 沉鱼落雁

Chinese

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submerge; immerse; sink
submerge; immerse; sink; deep; profound; to lower; to drop
 
fish to fall; to drop (behind); leave behind wild goose
trad. (沉魚落雁)
simp. (沉鱼落雁)
alternative forms 沈魚落雁

Etymology

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From Zhuangzi (in the chapter "Discussion on Making All Things Equal"):

毛嬙麗姬麋鹿天下 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
毛嫱丽姬麋鹿天下 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: Zhuangzi, circa 3rd – 2nd centuries BCE
Máoqiáng, lìjī, rén zhī suǒ měi yě, jiàn zhī shēn , niǎo jiàn zhī gāo fēi, mílù jiàn zhī jué zhòu. Sì zhě shú zhī tiānxià zhī zhèng sè zāi? [Pinyin]
Mao Qiang and Li Ji [courtesans and two of the Four Beauties] are what people consider beautiful, but if fish see them they will swim into the depths; if birds see them, they will fly away into the air; if deer see them, they will gallop away. Among these four, who knows what is rightly beautiful in the world?

(chén yú) often refers to Xi Shi and (lùo yàn) often refers to Wang Zhaojun.

Pronunciation

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Idiom

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沉魚落雁

  1. (of women) extremely beautiful; drop-dead gorgeous

Synonyms

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Descendants

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Sino-Xenic (沈魚落雁 (chényúluòyàn)):