断袖之癖(duàn xiù zhī pǐ): lit. cut sleeve (idiom)
4 charactersTrad. 斷袖之癖
lit. cut sleeve (idiom)
Character breakdown
4 characters · plays one at a time
Watch how each character of 断袖之癖 is written, one at a time. When a character is finished, the next one draws.
Word information
- Pinyin
- duàn xiù zhī pǐ
- Meaning
- lit. cut sleeve (idiom); fig. euphemism for homosexuality, originating from History of Western Han 漢書|汉书: emperor Han Aidi (real name Liu Xin) was in bed with his lover Dong Xian, and had to attend a court audience that morning. Not wishing to awaken Dong Xian, who was sleeping with his head resting on the emperor's long robe sleeve, Aidi used a knife to cut off the lower half of his sleeve.
- HSK level
- —
- Characters
- 4
- Traditional
- 斷袖之癖
Related words
Common words sharing a character with 断袖之癖 — tap one to open its word page.
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