📖 Meaning
Describes going through many twists and turns, or repeatedly and carefully deliberating over a matter before reaching a decision. It conveys either a convoluted, roundabout situation or the lengthy, intricate process of deep, restless thought.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase traces back to the Yuan dynasty, appearing in 'Autumn Thoughts' (秋思) by the playwright Fan Juzhong (范居中), whose line reads 'I wander here with a thousand turns and ten thousand twists, unable to set aside these many matters of feeling.' It gained wider recognition through Cao Xueqin's Qing dynasty novel 'Dream of the Red Chamber' (红楼梦), where in Chapter 98 it depicts Baochai turning a matter over countless times before finally devising a plan. Over the centuries the expression came to describe both winding, complicated circumstances and prolonged, anxious deliberation.
💡 Example Usage
他千回万转想了一夜，终究没想出好办法。
He turned the matter over a thousand times through the night, yet still could not come up with a good solution.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 千回万转
- Pinyin: qiān huí wàn zhuǎn
- Literal Translation: thousand, turn, ten thousand, turn
- Category: Logic
- Characters: 4