📖 Meaning
Literally it describes friends meeting on the road, spreading thorny branches on the ground to sit on, and talking over old times together. It originally referred to the roadside reunion of two old family friends. Today it is used generally for friends who meet and reminisce about their friendship and the days they spent apart.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom derives from the Zuo Zhuan (《左传·襄公二十六年》), a history of the Spring and Autumn period. Wu Ju (伍举), a minister of the state of Chu, had fled to Zheng and was about to continue on to the state of Jin. Shengzi (声子) of the state of Cai, whose father Zizhao had been a close friend of Wu Ju's father Wu Can, was also traveling to Jin and met Wu Ju in the outskirts of Zheng. The two spread thorny branches on the ground, sat and ate together, and talked over the old matter of Wu Ju's return to Chu. The Jin scholar Du Yu (杜预) glossed the word 班 as 布, 'to spread or lay out'.
💡 Example Usage
两位老友阔别多年，今日班荆道旧，畅叙离情。
After years apart, the two old friends sat down together to talk over old times and share all they had missed.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 班荆道旧
- Pinyin: bān jīng dào jiù
- Literal Translation: spread thorns, speak of old times
- Category: Communication
- Characters: 4