Chinese idiom · 成语
一往情深
Meaning
Deep, steadfast feeling or attachment.
Character by character
Origin and story
Traditional anecdoteShishuo Xinyu (世說新語), in the Ren Dan section, records Huan Ziye's intense response to beautiful singing. Whenever he hears it, he cries out in emotion. Xie An comments that Ziye has a deeply committed feeling once his emotions are engaged, using the longer wording 一往有深情.
The later expression 一往情深 condenses that description of emotional involvement. Its early anecdote concerns music, not an unrequited courtship. It can describe enduring love for a person, but also deep attachment to a place, an art, or another valued subject. The feeling is sincere and sustained; the phrase alone says nothing about whether another person returns it.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
离开家乡多年，她对那座小城仍然一往情深。
Years after leaving home, she still feels a deep attachment to that small town.
Deep enduring attachment; unlike 一厢情愿, it does not imply one-sided wishful thinking.