📖 Meaning
A chance meeting between strangers who happen to cross paths, much like duckweed drifting on water. It implies no prior connection and suggests the encounter is fleeting and may never be repeated. The idiom conveys a sense of transience and the randomness of human relationships.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from a preface to a collection of poems by Wang Bo (王勃), a renowned poet of the early Tang dynasty. In his famous 'Preface to the Tengwang Pavilion' (滕王阁序, c. 675 AD), Wang Bo wrote '萍水相逢，尽是他乡之客' — 'Meeting like duckweed on water, all are guests from other lands.' Wang Bo composed this piece impromptu at a banquet held at Tengwang Pavilion in Jiangxi province, lamenting the impermanence of human encounters while traveling far from home.
💡 Example Usage
我们在旅途中萍水相逢，却成了多年的好友。
We met by chance while traveling, yet became good friends for many years.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 萍水相逢
- Pinyin: píng shuǐ xiāng féng
- Literal Translation: duckweed, water, mutually, meet
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4