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西施
sai1 si1 |
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Xi Shi, one of the renowned Four Beauties of ancient China; a beautiful woman Xi Shi's beauty was said to be so extreme that while leaning over a balcony to look at the fish in the pond, the fish would be so dazzled that they forgot to swim and gradually sunk away from the surface, birds would forget to fly and fall from the sky, the moon would fade, and flowers would close their petals in shame in comparison to her. (Thus the idiom 沉魚落雁, 閉月羞花 which is used to compliment someone's beauty.) [source: Wikipedia]
Level: 4 This term is used in both Cantonese and Mandarin/Standard written Chinese. |
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西施 / 西施 | ||
This word has been viewed 2027 times since 30th Oct 2012, was added by bybell on 2nd Aug 2008 16:27 and last edited on 10th Jul 2014 23:57 |
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Chinese Language | Learn Chinese in China | Learn Mandarin in China | Chinese School | Chinese course in London |
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Characters in this word:西 sai1 - west施 si1 - bestow; bring into effect 3 compounds containing this word:情人眼裏有西施 - beauty is in the eye of the beholder情人眼裡出西施 - love is blind Common Formations: 檳榔西施 - betelnut girls |
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