沉魚落雁

See also: 沉鱼落雁

Chinese

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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？ [Classical Chinese, 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？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Zhuangzi, circa 3^rd – 2^nd 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

Mandarin
(Pinyin): chényúluòyàn

(Zhuyin): ㄔㄣˊ ㄩˊ ㄌㄨㄛˋ ㄧㄢˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): cam⁴ jyu⁴ lok⁶ ngaan⁶

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: chényúluòyàn
  - Zhuyin: ㄔㄣˊ ㄩˊ ㄌㄨㄛˋ ㄧㄢˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: chényúluòyàn
  - Wade–Giles: chʻên²-yü²-lo⁴-yen⁴
  - Yale: chén-yú-lwò-yàn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chernyuluohyann
  - Palladius: чэньюйлоянь (čɛnʹjujlojanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʰən³⁵ y³⁵⁻⁵⁵ lu̯ɔ⁵¹⁻⁵³ jɛn⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: cam⁴ jyu⁴ lok⁶ ngaan⁶
  - Yale: chàhm yùh lohk ngaahn
  - Cantonese Pinyin: tsam⁴ jy⁴ lok⁹ ngaan⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: cem⁴ yu⁴ log⁶ ngan⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɐm²¹ jyː²¹ lɔːk̚² ŋaːn²²/

Idiom

沉魚落雁

(of women) extremely beautiful; drop-dead gorgeous

Synonyms

閉月羞花／闭月羞花 (bìyuèxiūhuā)
羞花閉月／羞花闭月 (xiūhuābìyuè)
花容月貌 (huāróngyuèmào)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (沈魚落雁／沈鱼落雁 (chényúluòyàn)):

→ Japanese: 沈魚落雁(ちんぎょらくがん) (chingyorakugan)
→ Korean: 침어낙안(沈魚落雁) (chimeonagan)

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