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断袖之癖

duàn xiù zhī pǐ

4-character word Traditional 斷袖之癖

What 断袖之癖 means

1. lit. cut sleeve (idiom); fig. euphemism for homosexuality, originating from History of Western Han 汉书: emperor Han Aidi (real name Liu Xin) was in bed with his lover Dong Xian, and had to attend a court audience that morning. Not wishing to awaken Dong Xian, who was sleeping with his head resting on the emperor's long robe sleeve, Aidi used a knife to cut off the lower half of his sleeve.

The characters in 断袖之癖

• 断duànto break; to snap; to cut off
• 袖xiùsleeve; to tuck inside one's sleeve
• 之zhī(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的; him; her
• 癖pǐhabit; hobby