Chinese idiom · 成语
仙风道骨
Meaning
Immortal air, Taoist bones; ethereal, sage-like presence.
Character by character
Origin and story
literary accountIn the preface to his Rhapsody on the Great Peng, Li Bai recalls meeting the Daoist Sima Ziwei at Jiangling. Sima praised him with this expression, suggesting a bearing suited to roaming with the spirits beyond the ordinary world. Li Bai says that this encouragement inspired an earlier rhapsody about the great Peng bird and another extraordinary bird; he later reworked the piece. The compliment belongs to the imaginative language of Daoist aspiration and poetry. It does not establish that either man possessed supernatural powers. Today it evokes an unusually serene, otherworldly, or sage-like appearance.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
那位白发画家穿着长衫，颇有几分仙风道骨。
The white-haired painter in his long gown has something of a sage's otherworldly air.
A literary compliment about bearing or appearance; it need not imply religious belief.