Chinese idiom · 成语
朝云暮雨
Meaning
Morning clouds and evening rain; a literary allusion to lovers' intimacy, also used for natural weather.
Character by character
Origin and story
Literary legendThe preface to the Gaotang Fu, traditionally attributed to Song Yu, frames the story as a conversation with King Xiang of Chu. Song Yu tells him that an earlier king once dreamed of a woman who identified herself as the lady of Mount Wu. They became lovers in the dream. On leaving, she said she appeared as morning cloud and evening rain below the terrace. The king saw the promised cloud the next morning and established a shrine.
This is a literary account of a supernatural encounter, not verified royal history. Later poets drew on its clouds and rain to suggest lovers' intimacy. The expression can also describe actual weather; fleeting romance is not its only or necessary meaning.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
读这首情诗时，要留意朝云暮雨所暗示的男女情爱。
When reading this love poem, notice the romantic intimacy suggested by its morning clouds and evening rain.
Literary allusion to romantic or sexual intimacy; not an ordinary way to describe every short relationship.