断袖之癖 duàn xiù zhī pǐ

lit. cut sleeve (idiom); fig. euphemism for homosexuality, originating from History of Western Han 汉书hàn shū: emperor Han Aidi (real name Liu Xin) was in bed with his lover Dong Xian, and had to attend a court audience that morning. Not wishing to awaken Dong Xian, who was sleeping with his head resting on the emperor's long robe sleeve, Aidi used a knife to cut off the lower half of his sleeve.

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. lit. cut sleeve (idiom); fig. euphemism for homosexuality, originating from History of Western Han 汉书hàn shū: emperor Han Aidi (real name Liu Xin) was in bed with his lover Dong Xian, and had to attend a court audience that morning. Not wishing to awaken Dong Xian, who was sleeping with his head resting on the emperor's long robe sleeve, Aidi used a knife to cut off the lower half of his sleeve.

Characters

Character Meaning
断 duàn HSK 4
to cut off; to break; to snap
袖 xiù HSK 6
sleeve; to tuck inside one's sleeve
之 zhī HSK 4
(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的de); it
癖 pǐ
habit; hobby