This is partially a question and partially an observation that I’d like to confirm. ^^
I’ve been looking for a Chinese 4 character idiom that means “love”, but it seems like there’s hardly any. All the ones with the character “ai”(爱 love) in them seem to be bad, and those that kind of mean love are to do with loyalty, filial piety, wholeheartedness, devotion… but not “love” in the sense that the West would understand it, as is commonly understood by the character “ai”.
The question:
Are there any? The closest I came was 赤胆忠心, or whole hearted (or galled) devotion, but there’s just a hint of Western style love in there, and I’m trying to find it for a western audience, mainly, so this might seem a bit extreme (although I understand it)
The observation:
I’m not well versed in Chinese culture, so I’d like to know if this observation is correct - love in the present western understanding was somehow looked down upon in ancient China, where most of the idioms come from? In the present, love seems to be spoken and sung about quite freely, but only in pop culture - is it somehow considered old fashioned or inappropriate to coin a new idiom about “ai”( 爱 )?
I know that four-character constructions are the Chinese/Kanji equivalent of pithy old sayings or iambic pentameter, and that if you want your clever quotation to be remembered it has to be that sort of little poem (and God help you if one of your characters is the -r thing that they use in Beijing).
Four characters in Chinese generally captures an idea well enough without sounding excessive. As for details, you’ll need to consult a Chinese scholar - I’m just your run-of-the-mill bilingual kid.
It’s been a while since I studied Chinese or anything Chinese related, but there is no ancient four character idioms for “love” that I can readily recall. 赤胆忠心 is not it either - that implies a macho, Braveheart style devotion that is not romantically inclined at all.
A quick toss around Google gives me this link:
and this phrase:
谈情说爱 (translation: to speak of love, in the romantic sense)
I wouldn’t call it a four character idiom in the strictest sense… there’s no story or moral behind it, it’s just four characters stringed together to sound like an idiom. On the other hand, it is pretty suitable for everyday use unless you’re going academic, in which case you’ll have to dig a little deeper to get some better ones.
Generally speaking, traditional love in the Chinese culture is one that is based on honor and respect - it’s deeply rooted in confucianism and other similar philosophies. The older generation tend to view the concept of western love as lust/sex based and is generally frowned upon as something that is morally corrupting.
In addition, four character idioms traditionally encapsulates entire stories with morals attached, which doesn’t lend well to describing single concepts like “love”. On the other hand, there are ancient idioms for “love is blind”, “beauty is skin deep”, and other similarly profound statements.
Even then, there should still be something that fits your definition somewhere out there. If you look hard enough, I’m sure you’ll find one that works - good luck!
My favorite is xiang1de2yi4zhang1 (sorry, not on my own computer–can’t post charatcters).
The literal translation: the mutual advantage is obvious
A lady in Hong Kong translated it: together we’re perfect
My dictionary says: Each shining more brilliantly in the other’s company