📖 Meaning
A Tang dynasty tale of a palace maid who wrote a poem on a red leaf and let it float down a palace stream, where it was found by a scholar who later became her husband. It metaphorically refers to a serendipitous or fated romantic match, especially one brought about by an extraordinary coincidence.
📜 Origin Story
The story originates from Tang dynasty writer Meng Qi's 'Ben Shi Shi' (Tales of Poetry). It tells of a palace maid who, longing for companionship, inscribed a poem on a red autumn leaf and released it into the imperial moat. The leaf drifted out of the palace and was discovered by the scholar Lu Wo, who preserved it. Years later, after the maid was released from the palace, the two were married by chance, and only then discovered the red leaf that had connected them — a union seemingly ordained by fate.
💡 Example Usage
他们俩的相识相恋宛如红叶题诗，冥冥之中似有缘分牵引。
Their meeting and falling in love was like a poem inscribed on a red leaf, as if drawn together by destiny.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 红叶题诗
- Pinyin: hóng yè tí shī
- Literal Translation: red, leaf, inscribe, poem
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4