司马青衫 — “Describes extreme sadness or deep melancholy”

司马青衫 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “describes extreme sadness or deep melancholy”. Often evoking the image of someone's clothes being soaked with tears, as in the story of Bai Juyi. Literally, “Sima's blue gown”.

Frequency

司马青衫 Pronunciation and Pinyin

司马青衫 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
司	sī	5	manage, control, or operate
马	mǎ	3	horse, big, large
青	qīng	8	green, blue, or young
衫	shān	8	upper garment, shirt, jacket

Example Sentence with 司马青衫

听完那位老者的不幸遭遇，在场的听众无不感到司马青衫，泪湿衣襟

After listening to the elder's unfortunate experience, all the audience felt deeply melancholic, with tears moistening their clothes.

Origin and Story of 司马青衫

During the Tang Dynasty, the poet Bai Juyi was demoted to the position of Sima of Jiangzhou.

One autumn evening, he was seeing off a guest at the Puxun ferry terminal when he heard the melodious sound of a pipa drifting from the river.

He invited the pipa player over and inquired about her story.

He learned that she had learned music from famous teachers in Chang'an since childhood but was forced to marry a merchant in her old age due to her fading beauty.

Relating her fate to his own demotion and exile, Bai Juyi was deeply moved, and his clothes became soaked with tears.