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无牵无挂

無牽無掛
wúqiānwúguà
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 unburdened by ties or obligations
  2. 2 free from worldly cares
  3. 3 carefree

Examples

退休以后，他过上了无牵无挂的日子。
Tuìxiū yǐhòu, tā guò shàng le wúqiānwúguà de rìzi.
After retirement, he settled into a life free of cares.
我现在无牵无挂，想去哪儿就去哪儿。
Wǒ xiànzài wúqiānwúguà, xiǎng qù nǎr jiù qù nǎr.
Right now I have no ties — I can go wherever I want.

Tips

history
Cited from the Qing-dynasty wuxia novel 《三侠五义》 (Sānxiá Wǔyì, 'Three Heroes and Five Gallants,' chapter 61): 'The Northern Hero, being a man 无牵无挂, could not refuse, and went off with him to Mohua Village.' The phrase fits the wandering-hero archetype perfectly: no family, no debts, free to ride off.
memory
Two synonyms in parallel: 牵 'to pull/tug at' and 挂 'to hang on to.' Negate both with 无 ('without') and you have 'nothing tugging at you, nothing hanging on you' — a clean image of being unweighted.

Stroke Order

无 wú
牵 qiān
挂 guà