📖 Meaning
This idiom refers to branches and leaves growing from the same root. It is commonly used as a metaphor for the intimate and inseparable relationship between siblings who share the same bloodline. The imagery evokes how branches and leaves are naturally connected through their common trunk.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the Ming dynasty anonymous play 'Longmen Yinxiu' (《龙门隐秀》). In the third act, a character bitterly laments that his sister-in-law and elder brother were cruel and malicious, casting him out like a beggar. He contrasts their cruelty with the fact that they shared the same root and were like connected branches and leaves. The botanical metaphor of branches and leaves joined to one trunk thus came to symbolize the natural bond between siblings.
💡 Example Usage
他们兄弟俩连枝带叶，从小一起长大，感情十分深厚。
The two brothers, like branches and leaves of the same tree, grew up together and share a profound bond.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 连枝带叶
- Pinyin: lián zhī dài yè
- Literal Translation: linked, branch, with, leaf
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4