📖 Meaning
Each word is like a single pearl. The idiom describes a voice so melodious that every syllable sounds rounded and beautiful, and it is also used to praise writing that is so polished that every word sparkles. It conveys a sense of exquisite, jewel-like quality in speech or prose.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom comes from the Tang dynasty poet Xue Neng's poem "To a Singer" (《赠歌者》), which contains the line '一字新声一颗珠' — 'each new word, one pearl' — comparing the singer's crystalline voice to pearls, and adding that her trilling throat seemed to strike coral. The imagery of a single word as a single pearl was later extended from singing to written composition, so that by the Qing dynasty it was used in Wu Jingzi's novel The Scholars (《儒林外史》) to praise extraordinarily refined writing.
💡 Example Usage
她的歌声婉转圆润，一字一珠，令人心醉。
Her singing was smooth and mellow, every word a pearl, utterly intoxicating.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 一字一珠
- Pinyin: yī zì yī zhū
- Literal Translation: one word, one pearl
- Category: Quality
- Characters: 4