高卧东山 — “Lofty recline on Dongshan”
高卧东山 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to live in seclusion, declining official appointments and enjoying a leisurely life; to retire to a quiet life”. Literally, “Lofty recline on Dongshan”.
高卧东山 Pronunciation and Pinyin
高卧东山 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 高卧东山
Origin and Story of 高卧东山
During the Eastern Jin dynasty, the virtuous scholar Xie An steadfastly refused government positions and retreated to seclusion on Dongshan, near Kuaiji. Literati often visited him, where they would drink wine, compose poems, and never discuss court affairs.
When Former Qin invaded from the south, the Eastern Jin was in grave danger. Xie An accepted the critical appointment, became the chancellor of Eastern Jin, and successfully led the army to defeat Former Qin at the Battle of Fei River.
He then seized the opportunity to launch a northern expedition and recover lost territories.
Idioms Related to 高卧东山
Synonyms of 高卧东山
Antonyms of 高卧东山
More idioms starting with 高
- gāo高xià下rèn任xīn心know how to manage matters skillfully
- gāo高xià下qí其shǒu手collude in wrongdoing
- gāo高xià下zài在kǒu口make arbitrary judgments
- gāo高xià下zài在xīn心To have a well-thought-out plan
- gāo高xià下zài在shǒu手manipulate outcomes for illicit gains
- gāo高bù不còu凑dī低bù不jiù就too demanding, unable to find a match
- gāo高bù不còu凑，，dī低bù不jiù就unable to achieve high, unwilling to settle low
- gāo高bù不kě可pān攀too high to reach or approach
- gāo高bù不kě可dēng登too high to reach
- gāo高bù不chéng成dī低bù不jiù就too ambitious for low, not qualified for high
- gāo高bù不chéng成，，dī低bù不jiù就Too choosy for high, too proud for low
- gāo高bù不còu辏dī低bù不jiù就too picky to find anything suitable
Recommended tools
Picture Worksheets
Chinese and English fill-in vocabulary worksheets
Open the tool →
Stroke Order Animator
Turn a Chinese character or sentence into a GIF or MP4
Open the tool →
Character Highlight Animator
Choose character parts and animate their colors, together or in stroke order
Open the tool →
Writing Worksheets
Printable tracing sheets with a QR learning companion
Open the tool →Questions about 高卧东山
What does 高卧东山 mean?
高卧东山 (gāo wò dōng shān) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to live in seclusion, declining official appointments and enjoying a leisurely life; to retire to a quiet life”.
How do you pronounce 高卧东山?
高卧东山 is pronounced gāo wò dōng shān in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 高卧东山 literally mean?
Literally, 高卧东山 means “Lofty recline on Dongshan”. It is used to mean “to live in seclusion, declining official appointments and enjoying a leisurely life; to retire to a quiet life”.
Where does 高卧东山 come from?
高卧东山 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 高卧东山?
比喻隐居不仕，生活安闲。