📖 Meaning
Refers to a man and woman secretly communicating their romantic feelings for each other. It alludes to clandestine love affairs conducted behind closed doors. Synonymous with the more common variant 韩寿偷香.
📜 Origin Story
During the Western Jin Dynasty, Han Shou was a handsome and talented subordinate of the high official Jia Chong. Jia Chong's daughter, Jia Wu, saw Han Shou at a banquet and fell deeply in love with him. She sent her maid to convey her feelings, and Han Shou began sneaking over the wall at night to meet her secretly. Jia Wu gifted him a rare foreign incense that had been bestowed upon the Jia family by the emperor. When Jia Chong later smelled this unique incense on Han Shou, he discovered the secret affair but ultimately consented to their marriage. The idiom was later used by the Later Shu poet Ouyang Jiong in his poem 'Chun Guang Hao.'
💡 Example Usage
那两人韩寿分香，早被众人看在眼里。
Those two were secretly courting each other, and everyone had long since noticed.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 韩寿分香
- Pinyin: hán shòu fēn xiāng
- Literal Translation: Han, Shou, share, incense
- Category: Communication
- Characters: 4