沉鱼落雁

沉魚落雁
chényú-luòyàn
idiom #65,912

Meanings

  1. 1 fish sink, wild geese alight - describing breathtaking female beauty
  2. 2 beauty so great that nature itself is abashed

Examples

HSK 5
Tā yǒu chényúluòyàn zhī róng.
She has the beauty that makes fish sink and geese alight.
HSK 6
Gǔrén cháng yòng chényúluòyàn lái xíngróng měirén.
The ancients often used chenyuluoyan to describe a beauty.

Tips

history
Traces to 《庄子·齐物论》: 鱼见之深入,鸟见之高飞 - 'fish dive deep and birds fly high when they see them' - Zhuangzi's point was the relativity of beauty, but later readers flipped it into unqualified praise.
culture
Paired with 闭月羞花 to describe the Four Great Beauties: 沉鱼 ('sinking fish') refers to Xi Shi (西施) washing silk by the river, and 落雁 ('alighting goose') to Wang Zhaojun (王昭君) playing the pipa on her journey north.

Stroke Order

沉 chén
鱼 yú
落 luò
雁 yàn