血肉相连 (xuè ròu xiāng lián) — flesh and blood; inseparably connected; bound together by deep emotional ties

Definition

A chengyu describing a bond as intimate and inseparable as flesh and blood — typically used for family, kinship, or very deep emotional ties. It can extend metaphorically to organizations or groups whose fates are tightly intertwined.

idiom
flesh and bloodinseparably connectedbound together by deep emotional ties

Examples

  • 血肉相连，。
    Zhè liǎng wèi lǎo zhàn yǒu de gǎn qíng xuè ròu xiāng lián, jīng lì le wú shù fēng yǔ.
    The bond between these two old comrades is as close as flesh and blood; they've been through countless storms together.
  • 血肉相连，。
    Gōng sī hé yuán gōng xuè ròu xiāng lián, hù xiāng yī cún cái néng gòng tóng fā zhǎn.
    The company and its employees are inseparably connected; they can only develop together by relying on each other.
  • 血肉相连，。
    Mǔ qīn hé hái zi shì xuè ròu xiāng lián de guān xì, yǒng yuǎn gē shě bú duàn.
    The relationship between a mother and her child is as close as flesh and blood, forever impossible to sever.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

血肉flesh and blood
血xuèblood肉ròuflesh
联合Side by side
相连mutually connected
相xiāngmutually连liánconnect
偏正Modifier + head

血肉 gives flesh and blood, and 相连 gives mutual connection, expressing inseparable ties.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 一一yīdrop of blood
  • 皿皿mǐncontainer

The shape shows 一, a drop of blood, inside 皿, a container, for blood held in a sacrificial vessel.

Open 血 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The original shape of 肉 showed ribs of an animal’s torso, or simply a slice of meat.

Open 肉 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

In 相, 目 is an eye and 木 is a tree, showing an eye looking at a tree; this originally meant “to observe.”

Open 相 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 連; 连 is its simplified writing.

  • 辶辵chuòto walk
  • 車車jūchariot

The traditional form 連 joins 辶 (walk) and 車 (chariot) to show a man-drawn carriage; this note is about 連, not the simplified 连.

Open 连 →

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