Sending A Swan Feather from a Thousand Li Away

Characters:

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.