📖 Meaning
The qin and the se are two classical Chinese stringed instruments whose paired names traditionally symbolize a married couple. When the two instruments cannot be tuned to play in harmony, the phrase is used as a metaphor for a husband and wife who are not getting along. It thus describes marital discord or a strained relationship between spouses.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom comes from the Treatise on Rites and Music in the Book of Han, compiled by the Eastern Han historian Ban Gu. It records a memorial by the Western Han scholar Dong Zhongshu to Emperor Wu of Han, who argued that just as an out-of-tune qin and se must have their strings removed and restrung before they can be played, a failing government must be fundamentally reformed before it can function. The musical metaphor was later applied specifically to marriage, since the paired qin and se came to stand for husband and wife. The idiom also appears in the Tang dynasty anecdote collection Yinhua Lu, in a story about Guo Ai, son of the great general Guo Ziyi, and his wife Princess Shengping.
💡 Example Usage
他们夫妻俩琴瑟不调，常常为一点小事争吵不休。
The couple's marriage is out of tune, and they quarrel endlessly over the smallest things.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 琴瑟不调
- Pinyin: qín sè bù tiáo
- Literal Translation: qin, se, not, harmonized
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4