Chinese idiom · 成语
莫逆之交
Meaning
A friendship without discord; bosom friends.
Character by character
Origin and story
Philosophical taleIn the Zhuangzi's Da Zong Shi chapter, four imagined figures—Zisi, Ziyu, Zili, and Zilai—discuss a profound condition for friendship. They seek someone who can understand existence, life, and death as parts of one whole. Recognizing that they share this outlook, they look at one another and smile; their hearts have no opposition, and they become friends.
The passage says 莫逆於心 and then describes their friendship. Later historical biographies use the compact form 莫逆之交. The idiom preserves the sense of deep mutual understanding, without requiring modern friends to accept every philosophical claim of the original dialogue or agree about every trivial preference.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
他们从学生时代就是莫逆之交，隔得再远也会定期联系。
They have been close, like-minded friends since their student days and keep in touch no matter how far apart they live.
A literary expression for a deeply congenial friendship, stronger than an ordinary acquaintance.