📖 Meaning
This idiom contrasts the liver and gallbladder—organs within the same body, symbolizing closeness—with Hu (a northern region) and Yue (a southern region), symbolizing great distance. It metaphorically describes how things or people that are inherently close can be perceived as vastly apart, depending entirely on one's perspective.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the Huainanzi (《淮南子·俶真训》), a philosophical compendium compiled during the Western Han Dynasty under the patronage of Liu An, Prince of Huainan. The original passage argues that when one views things from the perspective of difference, even the liver and gallbladder within one body seem as far apart as the Hu region in the north and the Yue region in the south; yet when viewed from the perspective of sameness, all things form one whole. It reflects the Daoist idea of the relativity of perception and the unity of all things.
💡 Example Usage
两人虽是兄弟，却肝胆胡越，形同陌路。
Though they are brothers, they are as distant as the liver and gallbladder seen apart, like strangers passing on the road.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 肝胆胡越
- Pinyin: gān dǎn hú yuè
- Literal Translation: liver, gallbladder, Hu, Yue
- Category: Philosophy
- Characters: 4