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麻姑献寿
麻姑献寿
麻姑献寿
麻姑献寿
麻姑献寿
麻姑献寿
麻姑献寿
麻姑献寿
麻姑献寿
麻姑献寿

麻姑献寿 — “To offer congratulations and best wishes for a long life”

麻姑献寿 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to offer congratulations and best wishes for a long life”. Especially on an elder's birthday, often with a legendary or auspicious connotation. Literally, “Magu offering longevity”.

Frequency

麻姑献寿 Pronunciation and Pinyin

麻姑献寿 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order
CharacterPinyinStrokesMeaning
麻
má11hemp, numb, sesame, pockmarks
姑
gū8father's sister
献
xiàn13respectfully offer or dedicate
寿
shòu7longevity or birthday

Example Sentence with 麻姑献寿

在奶奶的八十大寿宴上,大家纷纷献上美好的祝福,场面温馨,犹如麻姑献寿一般。
At Grandma's 80th birthday banquet, everyone offered their best wishes, creating a warm and felicitous scene, reminiscent of Magu offering longevity.

Origin and Story of 麻姑献寿

Magu, the daughter of the fierce general Ma Qiu, was deeply compassionate. Her father forced workers to build a city day and night, only allowing them rest at cockcrow. Magu, feeling pity for the laborers, cleverly imitated a cockcrow, prompting other chickens to follow suit, thus granting the exhausted workers an early respite.

When Ma Qiu discovered this, he was enraged and pursued his daughter into the mountains, intending to punish her. Magu fled and gained immortality.

Legend further elaborates that Ma Qiu, in his fury, set fire to the mountain to kill Magu. Coincidentally, the Queen Mother of the West (Wangmu) was passing by. Seeing the flames, she quickly brought forth a heavy rain to extinguish the fire. Upon learning the full story, Wangmu greatly admired Magu's kindness and compassion for the people. She took Magu as her disciple and brought her to Magu Mountain in Nancheng County for cultivation.

There, Magu used the water from thirteen clear springs to brew a special spirit mushroom wine (Lingzhi wine). After thirteen years, the wine was perfected, and Magu herself achieved immortal status. It happened to be the Queen Mother of the West's birthday, so Magu brought her precious spirit wine to Yao Tai (the legendary abode of immortals) to offer her birthday felicitations.

The Queen Mother was delighted and bestowed upon Magu the title of "Xū Jì Chōng Yīng Zhēn Rén" (虚寂冲应真人). The imagery of "Magu Offering Longevity" thus originated from this tale and is widely used as a symbol of good fortune and birthday blessings.

Idioms Related to 麻姑献寿

More idioms starting with 麻

  • má麻mù木bù不rén仁numb and unfeeling
  • má麻bì痹bù不rén仁numb and unfeeling
  • má麻bì痹dà大yì意careless and negligent
  • má麻bì痺bù不rén仁insensitive and indifferent
  • má麻què雀suī虽xiǎo小,,wǔ五zàng脏jù俱quán全Small but complete in every detail
  • má麻què雀suī虽xiǎo小,,gān肝dǎn胆jù俱quán全Small but complete in every essential aspect

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Questions about 麻姑献寿

What does 麻姑献寿 mean?

麻姑献寿 (má gū xiàn shòu) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to offer congratulations and best wishes for a long life”.

How do you pronounce 麻姑献寿?

麻姑献寿 is pronounced má gū xiàn shòu in Mandarin Chinese.

What does 麻姑献寿 literally mean?

Literally, 麻姑献寿 means “Magu offering longevity”. It is used to mean “to offer congratulations and best wishes for a long life”.

Where does 麻姑献寿 come from?

麻姑献寿 comes from a classical Chinese story. The full story is on this page.

What is the Chinese definition of 麻姑献寿?

献:把东西送给尊长或敬爱的人。指祝贺寿辰。

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