







贵在知心 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “the most valuable aspect of friendship is mutual understanding and a meeting of minds; true friendship is based on profound trust and empathy”. Literally, “What is precious is knowing the heart”.
During his youth, Guan Zhong was close friends with Bao Shuya. Guan Zhong often took advantage of Bao Shuya's wealth.
Later, when Bao Shuya followed Prince Xiaobai of Qi and Guan Zhong served Prince Jiu, the two princes contended for the throne. Guan Zhong even shot an arrow at Xiaobai.
After Xiaobai ascended the throne and became Duke Huan of Qi, Bao Shuya, despite their past conflicts and differing allegiances, recommended Guan Zhong to be his prime minister, recognizing Guan Zhong's great talent.
Guan Zhong, deeply moved, sighed, 'It is Bao Shuya who truly understands my heart.' This story highlights that the true value of a relationship lies in profound mutual understanding and trust, even more so than shared experiences or simple camaraderie.

Chinese and English fill-in vocabulary worksheets
Open the tool →
Printable tracing sheets with a QR learning companion
Open the tool →
Choose character parts and animate their colors, together or in stroke order
Open the tool →
Picture and word Bingo for your class
Open the tool →贵在知心 (guì zài zhī xīn) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “the most valuable aspect of friendship is mutual understanding and a meeting of minds; true friendship is based on profound trust and empathy”.
贵在知心 is pronounced guì zài zhī xīn in Mandarin Chinese.
Literally, 贵在知心 means “What is precious is knowing the heart”. It is used to mean “the most valuable aspect of friendship is mutual understanding and a meeting of minds; true friendship is based on profound trust and empathy”.
贵在知心 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to modern Chinese. The full story is on this page.
以知心交心为贵,指朋友之间心心相印。