📖 Meaning
Appearing to be hidden yet also seeming to appear; describing something faintly visible and indistinct. It conveys a hazy, unclear quality where something can be half-seen but not fully discerned.
📜 Origin Story
This phrase originates from the Song dynasty work 'Xuanhe Painting Catalogue: Landscape III' (宣和画谱·山水三), compiled under Emperor Huizong (赵佶). The text describes a painting titled 'Wind and Smoke Before Rain' (风烟欲雨图), praising how it captures a scene that is neither overcast nor clear, like a misty plum-rain dawn with drifting vapors. The painter evokes a realm of subtle imagination where forms loom indistinctly—seemingly hidden, seemingly visible—beyond what can be fully grasped.
💡 Example Usage
远处的山峦在晨雾中若隐若显，宛如仙境一般。
The distant mountains loomed indistinctly through the morning mist, like a fairyland.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 若隐若显
- Pinyin: ruò yǐn ruò xiǎn
- Literal Translation: seemingly hidden, seemingly visible
- Category: Clarity
- Characters: 4