CHENGYU
破镜重圆(pò jìng chóng yuán)meaning, story and origin
- Register:
- literary
- Source:
- 唐·韦述《两京新记》
MEANING
- Literal
- the broken mirror is whole again
- Figurative meaning
- a separated couple reunites
ORIGIN STORY
Fleeing the fall of the Chen dynasty, the official Xu Deyan broke a mirror with his wife, each keeping half as a token. Years later the halves were matched again, and the couple were reunited.
NATURAL EQUIVALENT
“to get back together”
EXAMPLES
他们离婚三年后又破镜重圆了。Tāmen líhūn sān nián hòu yòu pò jìng chóng yuán le.HSK6
Three years after their divorce, the broken mirror was made whole again.
分手这么久还能破镜重圆，真不容易。Fēnshǒu zhème jiǔ hái néng pò jìng chóng yuán, zhēn bù róngyì.HSK6
To reunite after so long apart — the mirror truly mended — is rare.
COMMON MISTAKE
Watch out: Note the reading: 重 is chóng (again). It is only for couples, not friendships or teams.
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
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TRUST & SOURCES
- Reviewed by
- AI-assisted editorial review
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-15
- CC-CEDICT 2026-01-01