📖 Meaning
To be deeply saddened by the sight of a scene or landscape before one's eyes. The idiom describes how encountering familiar or evocative scenery can trigger painful memories and emotional distress, often associated with nostalgia, homesickness, or grief over lost times and people.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from Act 3 of the Yuan Dynasty play "Wang Can Ascends the Tower" (《王粲登楼》) by the renowned playwright Zheng Dehui (郑德辉). The play follows Wang Can, one of the Seven Scholars of Jian'an, who climbs a high tower and is overcome with sorrow upon seeing the distant landscape. The original lines read: "Climbing high and gazing far, every man harbors the grief of a lost homeland; caressing the scenery and wounding the heart, everywhere one sheds tears of despair." The idiom captures this universal experience of being emotionally triggered by one's surroundings.
💡 Example Usage
登高望远，不免抚景伤情，思念故乡。
Climbing high and looking far, one cannot help but be moved to sorrow by the scenery, longing for one's hometown.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 抚景伤情
- Pinyin: fǔ jǐng shāng qíng
- Literal Translation: caress, scenery, wound, emotion
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4