p8nda
p8nda BETA
Home Dictionary Discord

谈笑有鸿儒

談笑有鴻儒
tánxiàoyǒuhóngrú
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 one's conversation and laughter are with great scholars
  2. 2 the company one keeps is of the learned and distinguished
  3. 3 (lit.) chatting and laughing with grand Confucians

Examples

他家书房简朴，却谈笑有鸿儒，常来的都是学界名流。
Tā jiā shūfáng jiǎnpǔ, què tán xiào yǒu hóng rú, cháng lái de dōu shì xuéjiè míngliú.
His study is plain, yet he chats and laughs with great scholars — regular visitors are all academic luminaries.
那家咖啡馆气氛好，谈笑有鸿儒，往来无白丁。
Nà jiā kāfēi guǎn qìfēn hǎo, tán xiào yǒu hóng rú, wǎnglái wú báidīng.
That cafe has a wonderful atmosphere — the chatter is of scholars; no uneducated folk pass through.

Tips

history
From Liu Yuxi's (刘禹锡) Tang-dynasty essay 《陋室铭》 (Inscription for My Humble Room). Full couplet: 『谈笑有鸿儒，往来无白丁』— 'I chat and laugh with great scholars; no plain commoners pass through.' Liu wrote the essay to defend the dignity of his small, simple house, arguing that a room is ennobled by the company it keeps, not by its size or decoration.
usage
Almost always appears with the matching line 『往来无白丁』. Use it to praise (or gently brag about) elevated intellectual company — note the slight whiff of elitism, since 白丁 literally means 'the uneducated.'

Stroke Order

谈 tán
笑 xiào
有 yǒu
鸿 hóng
儒 rú