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千里送鹅毛，礼轻情意重

qiān lǐ sòng é máo , lǐ qīng qíng yì zhòngdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
goose feather sent from afar, a trifling present with a weighty thought behind it (idiom); It's not the gift that counts, but the thought behind it.
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-59f6b9b7079dcba6. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

千里送鵝毛，禮輕情意重 千里送鹅毛，礼轻情意重 [qian1 li3 song4 e2 mao2 , li3 qing1 qing2 yi4 zhong4] /goose feather sent from afar, a trifling present with a weighty thought behind it (idiom); It's not the gift that counts, but the thought behind it./

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 千里送鵝毛，禮輕情意重

  • 千
    qiān

    thousand / used in 鞦韆|秋千[qiū qiān]

  • 里
    lǐ

    lining / interior / inside / internal / also written 裏|里[lǐ] / li, ancient measure of length, approx. 500 m / neighborhood / ancient administrative unit of 25 families / (Tw) borough, administrative unit between the township 鎮|镇[zhèn] and neighborhood 鄰|邻[lín] levels

    Lǐ

    surname Li

  • 送
    sòng

    to send; to deliver; to transmit / to give (as a present) / to see (sb) off / to accompany; to go along with

  • 鹅
    é

    goose / CL:隻|只[zhī]

  • 毛
    máo

    hair / feather / down / wool / mildew / mold / coarse or semifinished / young / raw / careless / unthinking / nervous / scared / (of currency) to devalue or depreciate / classifier for Chinese fractional monetary unit ( = 角[jiǎo] , = one-tenth of a yuan or 10 fen 分[fēn])

    Máo

    surname Mao

  • 礼
    lǐ

    gift / rite / ceremony / CL:份[fèn] / propriety / etiquette / courtesy

    Lǐ

    surname Li / abbr. for 禮記|礼记[Lǐ jì], Classic of Rites

  • 轻
    qīng

    light / easy / gentle / soft / reckless / unimportant / frivolous / small in number / unstressed / neutral / to disparage

  • 情
    qíng

    (bound form) feelings; emotion; sentiment; passion / (bound form) situation; condition

  • 意
    yì

    (bound form) idea; thought; meaning; sense / (bound form) intention; feeling; inclination; state of mind / (bound form) Italy (abbr. for 意大利[Yì dà lì])

  • 重
    chóng

    to repeat / repetition / again / re- / classifier: layer

    zhòng

    heavy / serious / to attach importance to

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.