The Legend of Biyiniao and Lianlizhi: A Story of Eternal Love（Part 1)
In Chinese culture, love isn’t just a feeling—it’s poetry woven into everyday life through idioms. Two of the most romantic are Biyiniao (比翼鳥), or "paired-wing birds," and Lianlizhi (連理枝), meaning "intertwined branches." The Biyiniao is a mythical bird with just one wing and one eye, needing its mate to fly—a perfect symbol of love that can’t stand alone. Lianlizhi describes two trees whose branches grow together, representing a couple united as one. These ideas come from a tragic yet beautiful story from ancient China, one that’s been told for over two thousand years.
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A Love That Defied a King
Back in the Warring States period (475-221 BCE), a chaotic time when ancient China was split into rival kingdoms, there lived a ruler named King Kang of the Song state. One day, while riding his chariot through what’s now Henan province, he spotted a stunning woman picking mulberry leaves. Smitten, he found out she was the wife of an official named Han Ping. Her name is often recorded as Xi Shi in this tale, though she’s not the famous beauty from history with the same name.
King Kang’s admiration turned dark. He ordered a terrace built—called Qingling Terrace—so he could watch her from afar. Then he sent men to investigate and confirmed she was Han Ping’s wife. Obsessed, he demanded Han Ping hand her over. But Han Ping and his wife were deeply in love and refused to be torn apart. The king, furious, threw Han Ping in prison, where he took his own life in despair. His wife, devastated, climbed the terrace and leapt to her death.
Hoping to keep them separated even after death, King Kang buried them on opposite sides of a road. But something miraculous happened. A tree sprouted from each grave, and over time, their branches reached across and intertwined. On those branches perched a pair of mandarin ducks—birds that mate for life in Chinese culture—their mournful calls tugging at the heartstrings of anyone who heard them. This gave rise to Lianlizhi, the intertwined branches, and Biyiniao, the paired-wing birds, as symbols of a love that not even death could break.
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Cultural Significance: Love in Poetry
This story didn’t just fade away—it became a cornerstone of Chinese romance. The idioms Biyiniao and Lianlizhi are still used today to describe couples who are inseparable. One of the most famous examples comes from the Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi in his masterpiece The Song of Everlasting Sorrow. The poem tells of Emperor Xuanzong and his beloved Yang Guifei, whose love ended in tragedy. Mourning her, the emperor dreams of them reuniting, saying:
"In heaven, we shall be paired-wing birds; on earth, intertwined branches. Though heaven and earth may last forever, this sorrow will never end."
These lines turned the idioms into emblems of eternal love, blending heartbreak with beauty.
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Love That Echoes Through Time
The tale of Han Ping and his wife, and the symbols it gave us—Biyiniao and Lianlizhi—show how love can outlast even the darkest moments. It’s a story that’s crossed centuries, inspiring poets, playwrights, and anyone who’s ever dreamed of a bond that defies the odds. Whether it’s birds flying as one or branches growing together, these images remind us that true love doesn’t just endure—it thrives, even beyond the grave. For Americans, it’s a window into Chinese culture and a universal truth: some stories, and some loves, never die.
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