三月不知肉味

From the Analects, Book 7 (《論語·述而》):

子在齊聞韶，三月不知肉味。曰：「不圖為樂之至於斯也！」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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子在齐闻韶，三月不知肉味。曰：“不图为乐之至于斯也！” [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Zǐ zài Qí wén Sháo, sān yuè bùzhī ròu wèi. Yuē: “Bù tú wèi yuè zhī zhìyú sī yě!” [Pinyin]

When the Master was in Qi, he heard the Shao, and for three months did not know the taste of flesh. He said, "I did not think that music could have been made so excellent as this."

三月不知肉味

1. describes a situation in which one is totally captivated by whatever activity is taking place; totally enraptured

   • 有人認為北島在這本書中沒有表現出思想之美，但那是評論家的事，對於我等普通讀者來說，這樣的文字，已經足以三月不知肉味了。 [MSC, trad.]
     有人认为北岛在这本书中没有表现出思想之美，但那是评论家的事，对于我等普通读者来说，这样的文字，已经足以三月不知肉味了。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2005: 秋水 (Qiushui), 二00四文化年鉴评书：生活的美丽与哀愁 (Culture year 2004 literary criticism: the beauty and sadness of life)

     Yǒurén rènwéi Běi Dǎo zài zhè běn shū zhōng méiyǒu biǎoxiàn chū sīxiǎng zhī měi, dàn nà shì pínglùnjiā de shì, duìyú wǒděng pǔtōng dúzhě lái shuō, zhèyàng de wénzì, yǐjīng zúyǐ sān yuè bùzhī ròu wèi le. [Pinyin]

     There are some who believe that Bei Dao has not demonstrated a clarity of thought in this book; I will leave that to the reviewers and critics. However, for ordinary readers like me, this kind of writing was sufficient to keep me totally enraptured.