📖 Meaning
It refers to a young woman of marriageable age still living in the women's quarters, awaiting betrothal. The term 字 originally meant the formal betrothal (naming) of a girl after her coming-of-age hairpin ceremony. It traditionally describes an unmarried daughter waiting for a suitable match to be arranged.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from the 'Liji' (Book of Rites), specifically the chapter 'Qu Li Shang' (Summary of Rules of Propriety, Part One), a foundational Confucian text compiled during the Han dynasty from earlier Zhou dynasty ritual materials. The text states that a woman awaiting marriage should be betrothed upon receiving her hairpin (笄) at age fifteen, at which point she is given a formal courtesy name (字). Later literary figures such as the Qing dynasty novelist Huang Xiaopei in 'Nian Zai Fan Hua Meng' (Twenty Years of Splendor) popularized the phrase in vernacular fiction to describe eligible young ladies of good family.
💡 Example Usage
她年方十八，待字闺中，尚未许配人家。
She is now eighteen, still waiting in the women's quarters for a betrothal, and has not yet been promised to anyone.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 待字闺中
- Pinyin: dài zì guī zhōng
- Literal Translation: waiting, for betrothal, in, the women's quarters
- Category: Status
- Characters: 4