浮想聯翩

Chinese

		to think back; to recollect; to recall to think back; to recollect; to recall; idea that comes to mind; passing thought	in close succession; together; wave after wave
trad. (浮想聯翩)		浮想	聯翩
simp. (浮想联翩)		浮想	联翩

Etymology

Coined by Mao Zedong in 1958, in the preface to a couple of qilü poems titled Farewell To the God of Plague:

浮想聯翩，夜不能寐。微風拂煦，旭日臨窗，遙望南天，欣然命筆。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]

浮想联翩，夜不能寐。微风拂煦，旭日临窗，遥望南天，欣然命笔。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

From: 1958 July 1, 毛澤東,《七律·送瘟神》序, translation based on Gu Zhengkun's version

Fúxiǎngliánpiān, yèbùnéngmèi. Wēifēng fúxù, xùrì lín chuāng, yáowàng nántiān, xīnrán mìngbǐ. [Pinyin]

I could not sleep well at night with thoughts thronging my mind. Now in the morning as sunlight penetrates into my window, amid the warm breeze, I, looking into the distant sky, pen the following lines with immense pleasure.

Which is in turn one character modified from Lu Ji's On Literature:

浮藻聯翩，若翰鳥纓繳，而墜曾雲之峻。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

浮藻联翩，若翰鸟缨缴，而坠曾云之峻。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: circa 300, 陸機, 《文賦》

Fúzǎo liánpiān, ruò hàn niǎo yīng zhuó, ér zhuì céngyún zhī jùn. [Pinyin]

Fluttering phrases fleet as feathered flocks, suddenly pierced by arrows of thought, plunge through layered mists of creation.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): fúxiǎngliánpiān

(Zhuyin): ㄈㄨˊ ㄒㄧㄤˇ ㄌㄧㄢˊ ㄆㄧㄢ

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: fúxiǎngliánpiān
  - Zhuyin: ㄈㄨˊ ㄒㄧㄤˇ ㄌㄧㄢˊ ㄆㄧㄢ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: fúsiǎngliánpian
  - Wade–Giles: fu²-hsiang³-lien²-pʻien¹
  - Yale: fú-syǎng-lyán-pyān
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: fwusheanglianpian
  - Palladius: фусянляньпянь (fusjanljanʹpjanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /fu³⁵ ɕi̯ɑŋ²¹⁴⁻²¹ li̯ɛn³⁵ pʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵/

Idiom

浮想聯翩

thoughts flooding one’s mind; imagination coming in close succession