📖 Meaning
The apes cry out in alarm and the cranes call in sorrow. It describes a desolate, melancholic scene where the cries of wild animals evoke feelings of loneliness and homesickness. Often used to depict remote, wilderness settings that stir deep emotion.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from a poem by the Song dynasty poet Wang Ruan, titled 'Autumn Letter to My Younger Brother' (秋日寄舍弟). In the poem, the line 'apes startled and cranes sorrowful, grass grows three feet tall; the Chu frontier and Wu headland, the sky stretches to one horizon' depicts a lonely autumn landscape. The cries of apes and cranes in the wilderness symbolize the poet's feelings of isolation and longing for home while far away from family.
💡 Example Usage
戍边将士身处荒山野岭，耳闻猿惊鹤怨之声，不禁思乡情切。
Stationed in desolate mountains and wilderness, the frontier soldiers heard the mournful cries of apes and cranes and could not help but yearn deeply for home.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 猿惊鹤怨
- Pinyin: yuán jīng hè yuàn
- Literal Translation: ape, startled, crane, resentful
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4