世外桃源

shìwài-táoyuán

idiom #23,083

Meanings

1 an earthly paradise
2 Shangri-La
3 utopia
4 a land of peace far from the world

Characters

world; generation

outside; beyond

Examples

这个小村庄宛如世外桃源，远离城市的喧嚣。

Zhège xiǎo cūnzhuāng wǎnrú shìwài-táoyuán, yuǎnlí chéngshì de xuānxiāo.

This small village is like an earthly paradise, far from the noise of the city.

他梦想着找到一个世外桃源，过上平静的生活。

Tā mèngxiǎng zhe zhǎodào yī gè shìwài-táoyuán, guò shàng píngjìng de shēnghuó.

He dreamed of finding a Shangri-La where he could live a peaceful life.

Tips

history

世外桃源 comes from 桃花源记, 'The Peach Blossom Spring', a prose piece by 陶渊明 (365 to 427 AD). In it, a fisherman stumbles upon a hidden valley of peach trees where people live in perfect, timeless harmony, untouched by the outside world. He cannot find it again when he returns. The story gave rise to the expression 世外桃源 as the Chinese equivalent of utopia.

Stroke Order

世 shì

外 wài

桃 táo

源 yuán