美不胜收 (měi bù shèng shōu) — (idiom) so beautiful that one cannot absorb it all; more beauty than one can take in

Definition

Chengyu used as a predicate after a subject: the beauty is so overwhelming one can't take it all in. Applies to scenery, art, or collections — 'too much beauty to absorb.'

idiom
so beautiful that one cannot absorb it allmore beauty than one can take in

Examples

  • 美不胜收，。
    Zhè lǐ de fēng jǐng měi bù shèng shōu, ràng rén liú lián wàng fǎn.
    The scenery here is so beautiful that one can't take it all in — it makes people linger and forget to leave.
  • 美不胜收，。
    Bó wù guǎn lǐ de zhǎn pǐn měi bù shèng shōu, měi yí jiàn dōu zhí dé xì xì xīn shǎng.
    The exhibits in the museum are overwhelmingly beautiful — each one is worth appreciating carefully.
  • ，美不胜收。
    Chūn tiān de huā yuán lǐ bǎi huā qí fàng, zhēn shì měi bù shèng shōu.
    In spring, a hundred flowers bloom in the garden — it's truly too beautiful to take in all at once.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

美 shows 大, a person, wearing 羊, a headdress of feathers or ram's horn.

Open 美 →

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

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
肉肉ròumeat
Sound part声符shēngfú
生
生shēng胜shèng
Same sound today

The simplified 胜 changes the traditional 勝 by replacing part of its sound side with 生; the left 肉 relates to meat.

Open 胜 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
攴攴pū
Sound part声符shēngfú
丩
丩jiū收shōu
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

收 uses 攴 to show an action and 丩 as a sound clue; the old meaning was 'to arrest.'

Open 收 →

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