闲云野鹤
xián yún yě hè
a free spirit with no ties or worldly cares
Character by character
闲xián
idle
idle
云yún
cloud
cloud
野yě
wild
wild
鹤hè
crane
crane
Example
退休以后，他搬到山里住，种花钓鱼，过起了闲云野鹤般的日子。
After he retired he moved to the hills, grew flowers and went fishing, and lived as freely as a drifting cloud or a wild crane.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
Said of hermits, retirees and anyone free of office, family duties or ambition: 过着闲云野鹤般的生活. It can also be a polite refusal or a self-description: 我闲云野鹤惯了, I am used to answering to no one.
Learn this in Lesson 168 · HSK 7–9: 鄱阳湖的候鸟 (The winter birds of Poyang Lake)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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