📖 Meaning
Describes someone who speaks with extraordinary eloquence and fluency, their words flowing endlessly like a rushing river. It praises a person's skill in debate and persuasive argumentation.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Postface (后序) written by the Jin dynasty scholar Wang Ruoxu (王若虚). He observed that some scholars read tens of thousands of books and argued with words flowing like an overflowing river, yet still risked becoming petty Confucians if their views strayed from the great public and upright path. Here 辨 functions as a variant of 辩, pairing with 悬河 — a river flowing above ground level — as a vivid metaphor for unstoppable, fluent speech.
💡 Example Usage
他在辩论赛上辨如悬河，对手根本无力反驳。
He argued so eloquently in the debate that his opponents were left with no way to rebut him.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 辨如悬河
- Pinyin: biàn rú xuán hé
- Literal Translation: argue, like, suspended, river
- Category: Communication
- Characters: 4