📖 Meaning
Floating clouds and a solitary crane. It is a metaphor for a person who is free, unconstrained, and comes and goes as they please. The image evokes someone detached from worldly affairs, living with complete independence.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the Song dynasty work 'Continued Records of the Wild Monk of Xiangshan' (续湘山野录) by Wenying. The story recounts a remark that the prefecture was hard to add to and the poem would not be changed, yet like idle clouds and wild cranes, where in the sky could they not fly? The phrase compared a free-spirited person to clouds drifting without purpose and a crane soaring alone. Over time, 'idle cloud and lone crane' came to symbolize a carefree individual unbound by worldly ties.
💡 Example Usage
他退休后过着闲云孤鹤般的生活，四处游历不问俗事。
After retiring, he lived a life like an idle cloud and lone crane, traveling everywhere without concerning himself with worldly affairs.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 闲云孤鹤
- Pinyin: xián yún gū hè
- Literal Translation: leisurely, cloud, lone, crane
- Category: Lifestyle
- Characters: 4