沉魚落雁

See also: 沉鱼落雁

Chinese

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) 沉 魚 落 雁
simp. (沉鱼落雁) 沉 鱼 落 雁
alternative forms 沈魚落雁

Etymology

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

毛嬙、麗姬，人之所美也，魚見之深入，鳥見之高飛，麋鹿見之決驟。四者孰知天下之正色哉？ [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
毛嫱、丽姬，人之所美也，鱼见之深入，鸟见之高飞，麋鹿见之决骤。四者孰知天下之正色哉？ [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
From: Zhuangzi, circa 3rd – 2nd centuries BCE
Máoqiáng, lìjī, rén zhī suǒ měi yě, yú jiàn zhī shēn rù, 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?

沉魚 / 沉鱼 (chén yú) often refers to Xi Shi and 落雁 (lùo yàn) often refers to Wang Zhaojun.

Pronunciation

Idiom

沉魚落雁

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

Synonyms

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (沈魚落雁 (chényúluòyàn)):
  • → Japanese: 沈魚落雁(ちんぎょらくがん) (chingyorakugan)
  • → Korean: 침어낙안(沈魚落雁) (chimeonagan)
  • → Vietnamese: trầm ngư lạc nhạn (沉魚落雁), chim sa cá lặn (沉魚落雁)
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