Sending A Swan Feather from
a Thousand Li Away
| Characters: |
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Pronunciation:
Qian(1) Li(3) Song(4) Hong(2) Mao(2)
Explanation:
Meaning a tiny gift from afar carries the
deep feeling of the sender
Tone:
Positive
The Story: During the Tang Dynasty,
a local official ordered his attendant to
send a swan to the emperor as a gift. On the
way, the attendant gave the swan a bath in
a lake. Unfortunately the swan flew away,
leaving only a feather behind! The attendant
could do nothing but bring the feather to
the emperor with a poem saying: "An insignificant
swan feather from a thousand Li away conveys
the best wishes and deep feeling of the sender."
(Editor's Note: One Li equals half a kilometer)
Usage
Example (Pinyin): Wo(3) zhi(1) dao(4)
zhe(4) shi(4) qian(1) li(3) song(4) e(2) mao(2),
hen(3) gan(3) xie(4) ni(3).
Usage
Example (English translation): I know
this is kind of "sending a swan feather
from a thousand li away", so thank you
very much.
Note:
The spoken Chinese Mandarin language has 4
spoken tones. We have attempted to re-create
those above where after each syllable we tell
you (1), (2), (3), or (4) as they correspond
to each of the 4 tones. We encourage you to
complement your Xianzai.com Chinese Idioms
newsletter with a good offline study program.
