Chinese idiom · 成语
举案齐眉
Meaning
To raise the tray to eyebrow level; mutual respect in marriage.
Character by character
Origin and story
historicalThe Dongguan Han Ji (东观汉记) tells how Liang Hong and Meng Guang lived by their own labor. Later, in Wu, Liang Hong worked pounding grain while they lodged at the property of Gao Botong. When he returned from work, Meng Guang prepared food and raised its serving tray to the level of her eyebrows, without looking directly up at him.
Gao Botong noticed this striking deference and concluded that the hired worker must be no ordinary man. The episode reflects the gendered conventions of its historical setting: the recorded gesture is the wife's toward her husband. The idiom later broadened into praise of a marriage marked by mutual respect, rather than a requirement to reproduce that particular ritual.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
结婚三十年，他们依然举案齐眉，遇事总会先商量。
After thirty years of marriage, they still treat each other with respect and always discuss things first.
Literary and approving; modern use describes mutual marital respect.