相思病

xiāngsībìng

noun #36,188

Meanings

1 lovesickness
2 the condition of pining for someone

Characters

mutually; each other

to think of; to long for

sickness; illness

Examples

他得了相思病,茶饭不思。

Tā dé le xiāngsībìng, chá fàn bù sī.

He's got lovesickness — can't eat or drink.

古代诗词里常常写到相思病。

Gǔdài shīcí lǐ chángcháng xiě dào xiāngsībìng.

Classical poetry often writes about lovesickness.

她笑他犯了相思病。

Tā xiào tā fàn le xiāngsībìng.

She teased him for being lovesick.

Tips

culture

相思 (xiāngsī, 'mutual longing') is one of the great themes of Chinese poetry — Wang Wei's 红豆 (Red Bean) poem made the red bean (相思豆) the symbol of romantic longing. 相思病 is the affliction itself, treated half-seriously as an actual illness in classical literature.

In Pop Culture

红豆生南国,春来发几枝。愿君多采撷,此物最相思。 Hóng dòu shēng nán guó, chūn lái fā jǐ zhī. Yuàn jūn duō cǎixié, cǐ wù zuì xiāngsī.

Red beans grow in the southern land — when spring comes, a few sprigs sprout. Pick them often, my dear, for nothing speaks of longing more.

Wang Wei (王维), Tang dynasty poet — the most famous poem about 相思.

Stroke Order

相 xiāng

思 sī

病 bìng