📖 Meaning
Describes something that is clearly visible yet scattered and disorderly. It conveys a state where things are spread out unevenly in a messy fashion but remain plainly distinguishable. The idiom can also mean crisply clear and well-defined.
📜 Origin Story
From the Song Dynasty work 'Zhuzi Yulei' (Conversations of Master Zhu), Volume 115, by the renowned Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhu Xi (1130–1200). Zhu Xi used the phrase to illustrate the importance of making things clear and distinct — 'one stroke leaves one mark, one slap draws one drop of blood' — urging that matters be laid out plainly and separately rather than kept vague. Over time the idiom also came to describe things scattered about in a disorderly yet clearly visible manner.
💡 Example Usage
老街上历历落落的旧店铺，透着几分杂乱的市井气息。
The old shops scattered along the street gave off a chaotic yet vividly local atmosphere.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 历历落落
- Pinyin: lì lì luò luò
- Literal Translation: distinct, distinct, scattered, scattered
- Category: Clarity
- Characters: 4