Xúnzhǎo línggǎn de guòchéng, jiùshì zhòng lǐ xún tā qiān bǎi dù.
The search for inspiration is exactly 'seeking him a thousand times in the crowd'.
Tips
history
From Xin Qiji's (辛弃疾) Southern Song ci 《青玉案·元夕》 (Green Jade Cup — Lantern Festival). Couplet: 众里寻他千百度，蓦然回首，那人却在，灯火阑珊处 — 'I sought him a thousand, a hundred times in the crowd; and turning back on a sudden impulse, there he stood, in the fading lantern-light.' The scholar Wang Guowei (王国维) in 《人间词话》 famously ranked this as the third of the 'three stages of great endeavour' — the moment of discovery after long search.
usage
Paired couplet — rarely quoted without 蓦然回首 that follows. Applies to love, discovery, research, hiring the right candidate, finding the right product. 他 in classical use is gender-neutral.
