Describing a woman of breathtaking beauty, so captivating that fish would sink to the bottom upon seeing her, and geese would fall from the sky.
Era:
Ancient
Frequency:
Story:
During the Spring and Autumn period, there was a beautiful woman named Xi Shi. She would wash silk by the stream every day. When the fish in the stream saw Xi Shi, they felt so ashamed of their own appearance compared to hers that they dared not float to the surface and all sank to the bottom.
During the Han Dynasty, there was also a beautiful woman named Wang Zhaojun. When she was on her way to marry a foreign king, the flying geese in the sky saw how beautiful Wang Zhaojun was. They were so astonished that they forgot how to fly and all fell into the forest.
Later, when praising a woman for her exceptional beauty, people would say she possessed the charm of 'sinking fish and falling geese' (沉鱼落雁).