来龙去脉

來龍去脈

láilóng-qùmài

idiom HSK 7 #15,449

Meanings

1 the ins and outs; the whole story
2 cause and effect; the full sequence of events

Characters

vein; pulse; mountain range

Literally 'the coming dragon, the departing veins' — from feng shui, where mountain ridges (dragon veins) trace the flow of qi across a landscape. Now means tracing how something came about.

Examples

你能告诉我这件事的来龙去脉吗？

Nǐ néng gàosu wǒ zhè jiàn shì de láilóng-qùmài ma?

Can you tell me the whole story behind this?

我们先弄清楚来龙去脉再做决定。

Wǒmen xiān nòng qīngchu láilóng-qùmài zài zuò juédìng.

Let's figure out the ins and outs first before making a decision.

Tips

history

This idiom originates from feng shui terminology. Mountain ranges were called 龙脉 (dragon veins), and geomancers traced where the 'dragon' came from and where its 'veins' went to find auspicious sites. The idiom preserved this imagery while its meaning generalized.

Stroke Order

来 lái

龙 lóng

去 qù

脉 mài