一片冰心在玉壶

一片冰心在玉壺

yīpiànbīngxīnzàiyùhú

phrase

Meanings

1 a heart pure as ice held in a jade vessel
2 my heart remains unsullied, clear as ice in jade

Characters

Examples

洛阳亲友如相问，一片冰心在玉壶。

Luòyáng qīnyǒu rú xiāng wèn, yī piàn bīng xīn zài yù hú.

If friends in Luoyang should ask of me — tell them my heart is pure as ice in a jade vessel.

面对各种诱惑，他始终保持一片冰心在玉壶。

Miànduì gè zhǒng yòuhuò, tā shǐzhōng bǎochí yī piàn bīng xīn zài yù hú.

Facing all kinds of temptation, he has always kept his heart pure as ice in jade.

Tips

history

From Wang Changling's 《芙蓉楼送辛渐》 (Tang dynasty), sending off his friend Xin Jian at Furong Tower: 洛阳亲友如相问，一片冰心在玉壶。 Wang Changling had been demoted and slandered; the line is his reply to gossip — tell the Luoyang friends my integrity is intact. 冰心 (ice-heart) later became the pen name of modern writer Xie Wanying (1900–1999).

culture

The modern writer Bing Xin (冰心) took her pen name from this line. Her children's prose 《寄小读者》 is a staple of Chinese literature.

Stroke Order

一 yī

片 piàn

冰 bīng

心 xīn

在 zài

玉 yù

壶 hú