📖 Meaning
Like glue and lacquer bonding tightly together. It describes an intensely close, inseparable relationship between two people, most often referring to the passionate affection between a loving husband and wife.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom traces to the Western Han dynasty, appearing in Sima Qian's 'Records of the Grand Historian' (Shiji), where Zou Yang wrote of bonds so deep—like glue and lacquer—that not even brothers could be torn apart. It also echoes a line from the 'Nineteen Old Poems' of the Han dynasty, which asks who could ever part what is joined like glue poured into lacquer. Over the centuries the phrase came to specifically depict the fervent, inseparable love between husband and wife.
💡 Example Usage
这对新婚夫妇如胶似漆，形影不离。
The newlyweds were inseparable, devoted to each other like glue and lacquer.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 如胶似漆
- Pinyin: rú jiāo sì qī
- Literal Translation: like, glue, resembling, lacquer
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4