📖 Meaning
Like clouds assembling and shadows following. It is a metaphor for having a great number of followers or supporters who rally to someone's cause. The imagery conveys both the swiftness and the sheer quantity of those who respond.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the Han dynasty scholar Jia Yi's essay 'Guo Qin Lun' (The Faults of Qin), which analyzes the rise and fall of the Qin dynasty. In the original text, Jia Yi describes how the whole world gathered like clouds, responded like echoes, and followed like shadows, carrying their own provisions to join the uprising against Qin tyranny. The phrase vividly depicts the masses spontaneously flocking to a cause. Over time, '云合景从' became a condensed expression of this powerful imagery.
💡 Example Usage
义旗一举，天下英雄云合景从，共襄盛举。
Once the banner of righteousness was raised, heroes from across the land gathered like clouds and followed like shadows to join the great cause together.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 云合景从
- Pinyin: yún hé jǐng cóng
- Literal Translation: clouds gather, shadows follow
- Category: Leadership
- Characters: 4