行云流水 (xíng yún liú shuǐ) — (idiom) natural and smooth; effortless and graceful (of writing, calligraphy, or artistic style)

Definition

A chengyu describing writing, calligraphy, or speech that flows naturally and effortlessly, as if clouds drift and water runs. Used to praise smooth, graceful style.

idiom
natural and smootheffortless and graceful (of writing, calligraphy, or artistic style)

Examples

  • 行云流水，。
    Tā de cǎo shū xiě dé xíng yún liú shuǐ, fēi cháng piào liang.
    His cursive script is written with natural, flowing grace — very beautiful.
  • 行云流水，。
    Zhè piān wén zhāng wén bǐ xíng yún liú shuǐ, dú qǐ lái hěn shū fu.
    This article's writing style is smooth and natural; it's very pleasant to read.
  • 行云流水，。
    Tā de yǎn jiǎng rú xíng yún liú shuǐ, yíng dé le dà jiā de zhǎng shēng.
    His speech was like flowing clouds and water — it won everyone's applause.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

行云moving clouds
行xíngmoving云yúncloud
偏正Modifier + head
流水flowing water
流liúflowing水shuǐwater
偏正Modifier + head

“行云” and “流水” are paired natural images, together mean smooth and natural.

Characters in this word

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

  • 彳彳chì
  • 亍亍chù

The shape of 行 originally showed a street intersection, even on both sides. Later it became uneven, with 彳 on the left and 亍 on the right.

Open 行 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 雲; 云 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 雲 is 雨 (rain) plus 云; 云 was the original writing for 'cloud', and 雨 was added to separate it from the borrowed sense 'to say'.

Open 云 →

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
水水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
㐬
㐬㐬流liú
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

流 has 水, water, and 㐬, which gives the sound. The water part matches meanings such as flow.

Open 流 →

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

水 is a simple drawing of water flowing.

Open 水 →

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