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During the Warring States period, the renowned philosopher Zhuang Zhou often told fables in his book "Zhuangzi" to illustrate his philosophical views.
Among them, the fable "Zhuang Sheng Dreams of a Butterfly" describes him dreaming that he became a butterfly, feeling utterly content, flying freely and effortlessly, completely forgetting the worries of the human world.
After waking up, the vivid image remained fresh in his mind.

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Open the tool →蝶化庄周 (dié huà zhuāng zhōu) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to experience a profound transformation or the unpredictable, transient nature of life; to be uncertain whether one is a butterfly dreaming of being a man or a man dreaming of a butterfly, symbolizing the blur between reality and illusion and the impermanence of existence”.
蝶化庄周 is pronounced dié huà zhuāng zhōu in Mandarin Chinese.
Literally, 蝶化庄周 means “Zhuang Zhou transforming into a butterfly”. It is used to mean “to experience a profound transformation or the unpredictable, transient nature of life; to be uncertain whether one is a butterfly dreaming of being a man or a man dreaming of a butterfly, symbolizing the blur between reality and illusion and the impermanence of existence”.
蝶化庄周 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
化:变;庄周:战国时思想家。庄周在梦中变成蝴蝶。比喻人生或事物变幻无常