📖 Meaning
This idiom describes being heartbroken to the extreme, as if one's liver and intestines were being snapped inch by inch. It conveys a depth of grief and sorrow that is nearly unbearable. The imagery evokes visceral, physical pain to express emotional devastation.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the 'Strategies of the Warring States' (《战国策·燕策三》), where a dying man tells another that his intestines would likewise be severed inch by inch, expressing utter despair. Over time, the expression evolved into a common metaphor for extreme grief. It appears in classical literature such as Li Ruzhen's 'Flowers in the Mirror' (《镜花缘》), where characters reflect on tragic fates and feel their hearts break. The vivid anatomical imagery—liver and intestines breaking—renders emotional suffering in physical terms familiar to Chinese literary tradition.
💡 Example Usage
听闻儿子阵亡的消息，她肝肠寸断，泣不成声。
Upon hearing the news of her son's death in battle, she was utterly heartbroken and wept uncontrollably.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 肝肠寸断
- Pinyin: gān cháng cùn duàn
- Literal Translation: liver, intestines, inch, break
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4