Chinese idiom · 成语
攀龙附凤
Meaning
To cling to dragon and phoenix; to seek favor with the powerful.
Character by character
Origin and story
Literary sourceThe image appears in Yang Xiong’s Fayan (法言), in the chapter Yuan Qian. Discussing the enduring reputation of Confucius’s disciples Yan Hui and Min Ziqian, the text pictures them holding a dragon’s scales and a phoenix’s wings and rising with the wind. Here attachment to an outstanding teacher is not an accusation of dishonest ambition.
The shorter wording also appears in the Hanshu, volume 100, describing men of ordinary occupations who rose alongside the founders of the Han. Over time the expression acquired a more critical use: cultivating powerful connections to obtain advancement. Its present-day disapproving tone should not be projected unchanged onto every early passage.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
她宁愿靠作品赢得机会，也不愿攀龙附凤。
She would rather earn opportunities through her work than curry favor with powerful people.
Usually critical of status-seeking connections, not ordinary professional networking.