📖 Meaning
To hear of someone's reputation and yearn to meet them. It describes admiring and longing for a person of renown whom one has not yet encountered. The idiom emphasizes the power of a good name to inspire admiration from afar.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from the ancient text Guiguzi (《鬼谷子·内揅》), a work attributed to the legendary strategist Guiguzi of the Warring States period. The passage discusses the paradoxical nature of ruler-minister relationships: some are distant yet close, some near yet alienated. It observes that a minister may be passed over when standing right before the ruler, yet when his reputation reaches the ruler from afar, the ruler longs for him deeply. The phrase '遥闻声而相思' captures this idea that hearing of a worthy person's name from a distance can inspire greater admiration than daily proximity.
💡 Example Usage
他对这位学者闻声相思，盼望能当面请教。
Hearing of the scholar's reputation, he yearned to meet him in person and seek his guidance.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 闻声相思
- Pinyin: wén shēng xiāng sī
- Literal Translation: hear, reputation, mutually, long for
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4