Chinese idiom · 成语
西子捧心
Meaning
Xi Shi clutches her heart; beauty enhanced by delicate pain.
Character by character
Origin and story
philosophical fableThe Tian Yun chapter of Zhuangzi tells of the beautiful Xi Shi frowning because of pain in her chest. A neighboring woman admires the effect and copies the gesture, holding her chest and frowning as she walks through the village. Her imitation repels onlookers because she copies the outward expression without understanding what made Xi Shi's appearance attractive. The original anecdote is a philosophical illustration of misplaced imitation, not medical history. Later literary usage separates out Xi Shi's gesture as an image of delicate beauty, illness, or sorrow. The four-character expression is a later label for that image, not the full wording of the Zhuangzi passage.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
她在舞台上微微蹙眉，做了个西子捧心的姿态，把角色的哀愁表现了出来。
On stage, she lightly knitted her brows and held a hand to her chest in a Xi Shi-like pose, conveying the character's sorrow.
Literary imagery, especially for a delicate or sorrowful pose; uncommon in ordinary factual descriptions.