Love in Letters: Beautiful Chinese Love Quotes

Chinese people have many sayings handed down from the old times. Among them, Chinese love quotes are sweet sayings to use for weddings. You can use these love quotes for lovey-dovey conversations with your Chinese beloved – if you have one. 

In this post, I’ll share some famous Chinese love proverbs with their meanings. Let’s get right in!

1. 有情人终成眷属。

(Yǒu qíng rén zhōng chéng juànshǔ)

情(qíng) means love or affection. 有情人(Yǒu qíng rén) literally translates to those with love, which means lovers. At the same time, the meaning for 眷属 (juànshǔ) is family dependent.
Altogether, the love quote “有情人终成眷属” means that the lovers finally got together and become a family.  In English, we also say, “Jack shall have Jill.”

It is a famous proverb used in the weddings of newly wedded couples. In fact, this saying has a meaningful and romantic implication that all struggles are worth it. The couples might have faced many challenges overtimes to getting together finally.

2. 执子之手，与子偕老。

(Zhí zǐ zhī shǒu, yǔ zi xié lǎo)

Let’s take the words apart to find out their meanings. 执(Zhí) is to hold, 子 (zǐ) in this sentence means you, and 手 (shǒu) is hand. When put together, it means to hold your hands.

Next, 与(yǔ) is with, 偕老(xié lǎo) means growing old together. So, 与子偕老 (yǔ zi xié lǎo) means that I want to grow old with you together.

This quote is more like a vow you can say to your lover. The complete definition is, “I will hold your hand and grow old with you.” Or, it can also mean “to stay together till death and end.“

3. 有情饮水饱，无情食饭饥。

(Yǒuqíng yǐnshuǐ bǎo, wúqíng shí fàn jī)

This sentence is one of the Chinese quotes with two matching segments, which Chinese like to write idioms in this way. 有情(Yǒuqíng) means with love, and in the opposite, 无情(wúqíng) means without love. Next, 饮水(yǐnshuǐ) is to drink water, and 食饭 is to eat rice. Lastly, 饱(bǎo) means satisfied, and 饥(jī) means hungry.

It says that if two people are really in love, drinking water is more than enough. In contrast, food would not satisfy when there is no love. This saying brings out the importance of true love in life, and we shouldn’t give it up for the sake of material life. 

4. 在天愿作比翼鸟，在地愿为连理枝。

(Zài tiān yuàn zuò bǐyìniǎo, zài dì yuàn wéi lián lǐzhī)

This quote tells about the harmony of loving souls that wants to be together forever. It is also a matching proverb. 在天(zài tiān) means on the sky, and 在地(zài dì) means on the earth. 愿作(yuàn zuò) means that willing to be. 

Now comes the interesting parts. 比翼鸟 (bǐyìniǎo) is a bird’s name from the ancient Chinese legends. This bird only has an eye and a wing; thus, the male and female must fly side by side. It signifies the couple united by love and peace. At the same time, 连理枝 (lián lǐzhī) means two trees with branches interlocked forever. 

5. 愿得一人心，白首不相离。

(Yuàn dé yī rénxīn, bái shǒu bù xiāng lí)

愿(Yuàn) means to hope, 得(dé) is to get, 一人心(yī rénxīn) literally means a person’s heart. When combined, 愿得一人心 has a literal meaning of ”I hope to get a loyal and sincere heart.”

白首(bái shǒu) is white hair, which signifies when we grow old. 不相离(bù xiāng lí) means not to be apart. It means that I want to be with you and never be apart even when we are old.

This proverb is hard to translate into English. But you can understand it in these ways. “May I be with you till the end of life,” or,  “I wish if I could have thee, till the day life do us apart.”

6. 山无棱，天地合，乃敢与君绝。

(Shān wú léng, tiāndì hé, nǎi gǎn yǔ jūn jué.)

We’ve come to the real romantic classical Chinese love quote. This saying is an oath to the heaven and earth of one person’s faithful love.  

Let’s get direct to its meaning. It means that “when the hills are all flat, when heaven and earth mingle, not until then will I part from you.” 

What makes this love quote so incomparable to other Chinese love proverbs? See, isn’t it impossible for us to witness the time when a mountain becomes flat? And when the heaven and earth combine… Isn’t this scene only seen in disasters movies that tell about the end of the world? That’s why this saying signifies intense love that nothing could do them apart forever.

7. 浮世三千，吾爱有三：日、月与卿。

日为朝，月为暮，卿为朝朝暮暮。

(Fúshì sānqiān, wú ài yǒusān: Rì, yuè yǔ qīng. Rì wèi zhāo , yuè wèi mù, qīng wèi zhāo zhāo mù mù)

Want another classic Chinese love quote to confess your love? Here you go. It is a meaningful love quote to include the universe, sun, moon, morning, and night. Then, the author ends the proverb with forever love.

The English saying of this quote is, “I love three things in the world, sun, moon, and you; Sun for the morning, moon for night, and you, forever.” 

Interesting as it seems, 朝(zhāo) means morning, and 暮(mù) means night. When we mix them up, 朝朝暮暮(zhāo zhāo mù mù) is supposed to be days and nights. In Chinese, it also means forever. 

mountain ranges during nighttime

Final Thoughts

Now you’ve learned the Chinese love quotes, congratulations! These sayings are eloquent and soulful ways to express your feelings towards the one you love. Make sure you take time to practice with your Chinese-speaking friends so that you can master these sayings well! 

If you want to impress further the one you love, you should subscribe to Maayot! We will teach you the Chinese language in an easy and fun method. Here are some articles we recommend that we think you might be interested in:

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