📖 Meaning
Originally describing a filial child who anticipates and fulfills parents' wishes before they are spoken. Later extended to mean currying favor by guessing and catering to someone's intentions, often with a sycophantic connotation. It is synonymous with the idiom 先意承志.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase stems from the classical Confucian ideal of filial piety found in the Book of Rites (礼记), where a dutiful son was expected to understand his parents' desires before they voiced them. Over time the expression broadened beyond family devotion to describe courtiers and subordinates who flatter superiors by anticipating their wishes. The component 希旨 specifically means to divine or guess someone's will, lending the idiom its later pejorative sense of sycophancy. It shares the same root concept as the more common variant 先意承志.
💡 Example Usage
他在上司面前总是先意希旨，以求早日得到提拔。
He always tries to anticipate his boss's wishes before they are expressed, hoping to get promoted sooner.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 先意希旨
- Pinyin: xiān yì xī zhǐ
- Literal Translation: beforehand, intention, anticipate, will
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4