📖 Meaning
Describes grief and sorrow constantly churning within one's chest, hard to dispel or relieve. The 'nine turns' is a poetic exaggeration conveying how anguish repeatedly twists through the gut, reflecting deep and lingering distress.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from Han dynasty historian Sima Qian's famous 'Letter to Ren Shaoqing' (报任少卿书), written after he suffered the humiliating punishment of castration for defending the defeated general Li Ling. In the letter he confesses that his intestines seemed to turn nine times in a single day, that at home he felt dazed as if he had lost something, and going out he did not know where he was heading. The 'nine turns of the sorrowful bowel' thus became an enduring image of inner torment that cannot be soothed. Later poets, such as Tang dynasty Cui Lu, adopted the imagery to depict the melancholy of those far from home or burdened by longing.
💡 Example Usage
自从得知落榜的消息，他便愁肠九回，整夜难以入眠。
Upon hearing the news of his failed exam, he was consumed by churning grief and could not sleep a wink all night.
🏷️ Category
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🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 愁肠九回
- Pinyin: chóu cháng jiǔ huí
- Literal Translation: sorrowful intestines, nine turns
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4