A Swan Feather from a Thousand "Li" Away
Chinese Idiom: 千里送鹅毛 (qian li song e mao)
During the Tang Dynasty, a local official ordered an attendant to take a swan as a gift to the emperor. It was a long journey and, on the way, the attendant gave the swan a bath in a lake. But the swan flew away leaving behind just a single feather. The attendant had no alternative but the present the feather to the emperor. He attached a poem to the feather which included the words, "However small a gift may be, it comes from afar and carries with it the sincere wishes of the sender."
This idiom is said of a gift which although small, carries with it the deep feelings of the sender.
Note: "Li" is a Chinese unit of distance equivalent to 0.5km (0.3m). So a thousand "li" is equivalent to 500km or around 300 miles.
During the Tang Dynasty, a local official ordered an attendant to take a swan as a gift to the emperor. It was a long journey and, on the way, the attendant gave the swan a bath in a lake. But the swan flew away leaving behind just a single feather. The attendant had no alternative but the present the feather to the emperor. He attached a poem to the feather which included the words, "However small a gift may be, it comes from afar and carries with it the sincere wishes of the sender."
This idiom is said of a gift which although small, carries with it the deep feelings of the sender.
Note: "Li" is a Chinese unit of distance equivalent to 0.5km (0.3m). So a thousand "li" is equivalent to 500km or around 300 miles.
1 comment:
Well written article.
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