肝胆相照

肝膽相照

gāndǎnxiāngzhào

idiom

Meanings

1 (friends who are) liver and gallbladder shining on each other
2 to treat one another with utter sincerity; absolute mutual trust

Characters

gallbladder; courage

to shine on, illuminate

Examples

他们是肝胆相照的好朋友。

Tāmen shì gāndǎnxiāngzhào de hǎo péngyou.

They are bosom friends who trust each other completely.

战友之间肝胆相照，生死与共。

Zhànyǒu zhī jiān gāndǎnxiāngzhào, shēngsǐ yǔ gòng.

Comrades-in-arms trust each other utterly and share life and death together.

Tips

history

Echoes《史记·淮阴侯列传》: 臣愿披腹心，输肝胆 — Han Xin pledging to 'open his belly and offer up liver and gall' to Liu Bang. In classical Chinese, liver and gall stand for the innermost true self.

culture

In PRC political vocabulary, 肝胆相照 is paired with 荣辱与共 ('share honor and disgrace') in the slogan describing CCP relations with the eight 'democratic parties.'

Stroke Order

肝 gān

胆 dǎn

相 xiāng

照 zhào