📖 Meaning
Literally 'rinsing with a stone and pillowing on a stream,' this idiom refers to living in seclusion and withdrawing from worldly affairs. It originated from a witty slip of the tongue that was cleverly explained away, and came to symbolize the hermit's life.
📜 Origin Story
From 'A New Account of the Tales of the World' (世说新语·排调) by Liu Yiqing of the Southern Dynasties Song period. Sun Chu intended to say '枕石漱流' (pillow on stone, rinse with stream) to express his wish for a reclusive life, but accidentally reversed it to '漱石枕流.' Wang Wu teased him, asking whether one could really pillow on a stream or rinse with a stone. Sun cleverly retorted that he pillowed on the stream to wash his ears and rinsed with the stone to whet his teeth, turning the error into a graceful defense of his hermit ideal.
💡 Example Usage
他厌倦了官场的纷争，决心漱石枕流，归隐山林。
Weary of officialdom's strife, he resolved to withdraw into seclusion among the mountains and forests.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 漱石枕流
- Pinyin: shù shí zhěn liú
- Literal Translation: rinse, stone, pillow, stream
- Category: Lifestyle
- Characters: 4