噬指弃薪 — “Refers to the profound empathetic connection”

Q: What is the Chinese definition of 噬指弃薪?

噬指：咬手指。指母子眷念的感情

噬指弃薪 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “refers to the profound empathetic connection”. Especially filial piety, between a mother and child, where the child instinctively senses the mother's need or distress. Literally, “Bite finger, abandon firewood”.

Frequency

噬指弃薪 Pronunciation and Pinyin

噬指弃薪 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
噬	shì	16	bite or devour
指	zhǐ	9	point, indicate, or refer
弃	qì	7	abandon, discard, give up
薪	xīn	16	Firewood for passing on tradition

Example Sentence with 噬指弃薪

母亲生病时，远在他乡的儿子总是心神不宁，这大概就是噬指弃薪般母子连心的情感吧。

When his mother fell ill, the son, far away in another land, always felt uneasy; this is probably the profound empathetic connection between a mother and child, like "biting finger and abandoning firewood."

Origin and Story of 噬指弃薪

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cai Shun, from Ancheng in Runan, was renowned throughout the land for his filial piety. He lost his father at a young age and was raised by his mother.

One day, he went out to chop firewood. Guests came to their home looking for him.

His mother waited anxiously but saw no sign of him returning. So, she bit her finger. Cai Shun, sensing something amiss in his heart, immediately dropped his firewood and rushed home to ask his mother what was wrong.