杜鹃啼血

杜鵑啼血

dùjuān-tíxuè

idiom

Meanings

1 the cuckoo cries until it weeps blood
2 heartbreaking grief
3 bitter longing for home

Characters

cuckoo (with the next character)

to cry (of a bird)

Examples

HSK 6

这首歌唱出了杜鹃啼血般的悲伤。

Zhè shǒu gē chàngchū le dùjuān-tíxuè bān de bēishāng.

This song pours out a grief as bitter as the cuckoo weeping blood.

HSK 7-9

他在海外漂泊多年，思乡之苦如杜鹃啼血。

Tā zài hǎiwài piāobó duō nián, sīxiāng zhī kǔ rú dùjuān-tíxuè.

After drifting abroad for many years, his homesickness was as painful as the cuckoo weeping blood.

Tips

history

From a legend of ancient 蜀 (Sichuan): its king Du Yu, called 望帝, became a cuckoo after his death and cried until blood ran from its beak, staining the azaleas red. Both the bird and the flower are called 杜鹃. Its call was heard as 不如归去 "better go home", so the image carries homesickness as well as grief.

usage

Literary, and usually a comparison: 如杜鹃啼血 or 杜鹃啼血般 "like the cuckoo weeping blood", for grief, homesickness or a mournful song. 白居易 uses the image in 《琵琶行》.

Stroke Order

杜 dù

鹃 juān

啼 tí

血 xuè