📖 Meaning
Like duckweed drifting on water and waves leaving no permanent mark. It describes a person who wanders from place to place without a fixed home or settled abode.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from the Ming dynasty playwright Tang Xianzu's famous work 'The Peony Pavilion' (牡丹亭), Scene 20. The original line '恨恠恠，萍踪浪影，风剪了玉芙蓉' evokes the image of wandering without a trace, like duckweed and ripples cut by the wind. Over time the phrase was refined into the four-character form '萍踪浪迹' and became a vivid metaphor for a rootless, drifting life. It also appears in Ling Mengchu's 'Slapping the Table in Amazement' (二刻拍案惊奇), a Ming dynasty story collection.
💡 Example Usage
他一生萍踪浪迹，从未在一个地方长住过。
He wandered aimlessly all his life, never settling anywhere for long.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 萍踪浪迹
- Pinyin: píng zōng làng jì
- Literal Translation: duckweed, trace, wave, footprint
- Category: Lifestyle
- Characters: 4