📖 Meaning
Something that dazzles the eyes and startles the heart. It describes a sight so striking, splendid, or shocking that it overwhelms both one's vision and one's emotions at once.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase derives from a passage by a writer of the Song dynasty surnamed Liu, in the essay 'Record of Rebuilding the Temple of King Wenxuan' (《重修文宣王庙记》). The temple, dedicated to Confucius (posthumously honored as King Wenxuan), was described after its renovation as having been made increasingly ornate and magnificent—'增华崇丽'—so that its splendor dazzled the eyes and stirred the heart. The expression later came to be used for any spectacle whose visual grandeur or intensity leaves a viewer both awestruck and shaken.
💡 Example Usage
夜空中绽放的烟花层层叠叠，绚烂得令人眩目惊心。
The fireworks blooming in the night sky were layered one upon another, so brilliant that they dazzled the eyes and startled the heart.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 眩目惊心
- Pinyin: xuàn mù jīng xīn
- Literal Translation: dazzle, eye, startle, heart
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4