📖 Meaning
This idiom describes beautiful writing where elegant literary expression and profound meaning come together perfectly. It originates from a collaboration between Pan Yue, who provided the prose, and Yue Guang, who supplied the ideas. Together they produced a celebrated piece neither could have written alone.
📜 Origin Story
During the Jin Dynasty, Yue Guang was renowned for his skill in pure conversation (清言) but was not adept at writing formal documents. When he needed to submit a memorial to resign from his official post, he asked the famous writer Pan Yue to draft it on his behalf. Pan Yue requested Yue Guang to express his thoughts, so Yue Guang composed about two hundred phrases outlining his intentions. Pan Yue then arranged and polished them into a masterpiece. People of the time remarked that without Yue Guang's ideas and Pan Yue's pen, such a beautiful piece could never have been created.
💡 Example Usage
他二人合作著书，一人擅文辞一人精义理，恰如潘文乐旨，终成传世之作。
The two collaborated on a book—one excelling at prose and the other at ideas—like Pan's writing and Yue's intent, ultimately producing a timeless work.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 潘文乐旨
- Pinyin: pān wén lè zhǐ
- Literal Translation: Pan, writing, Yue, intent
- Category: Quality
- Characters: 4