📖 Meaning
Describes an extremely long and arduous journey or a vast distance. The phrase emphasizes the great expanse one must travel, often implying hardship or determination involved in covering such a far way.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the Qing Dynasty work 'Guangyang Zaji' (Miscellaneous Notes of Guangyang), Volume Four, by the scholar Liu Xianting. In the text, the author describes a situation where a woman's family is impoverished and large in number, raising the question of how they could possibly manage a journey of 'wan li tiao tiao'—a journey of ten thousand li. The phrase has since become a common expression to emphasize the extreme distance of a journey.
💡 Example Usage
为了与亲人团聚，他万里迢迢从海外赶回故乡。
To reunite with his family, he traveled all the way back to his hometown from overseas, covering a vast distance.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 万里迢迢
- Pinyin: wàn lǐ tiáo tiáo
- Literal Translation: ten thousand, li, far, far
- Category: Distance
- Characters: 4