Idiom Explanation:
There is not even a single seam in the magic dress. The metaphor is that things are so natural and complete that nothing can be found to be broken.
Pronunciation:
天衣无缝
tiān yī wú fèng
Origin:
前蜀·牛峤《灵怪录·郭翰》：太原郭翰，盛暑乘月卧庭中，仰视空中，见有人冉冉而下，直至翰前，曰：“吾天上织女也。”徐视其衣，并无缝。翰问之，曰：“天衣本非针线为也。”每去辄以衣服自随。
Story:
Legend has it that in ancient times there was a scholar named Guo Han, who was good at poetry and painting and had a witty personality and liked to joke around.
One night in summer, he was cooling off under a tree when he saw a long sky, white clouds, a bright moon, a breeze, and a fragrant courtyard. At that moment, a flower-like girl floated from mid-air and landed in front of him. Guo Han thought to himself, this must be a fairy in the sky. A question is indeed good, he is the cowherd’s wife, weaving, tired of weaving, to earth to relieve boredom.
Guo Han asked, “You came from heaven, can you talk about heavenly things?” The fairy asked, “What do you want to know?” Guo Han said, “I want to know everything.” The fairy said, “That’s hard, where do you want me to start?” Guo Han said, “People say that fairies are smart, so just tell me.”
The fairy said, “The four seasons in the sky are like spring, no summer heat, no winter cold; the trees are always green, the flowers do not die. The birds are singing on the branches and the fish are swimming in the water. There is no disease, no war, no taxation, in short, all the sufferings of the earth are not in heaven.”
Guo Han said, “If heaven is so good, why do you come to earth?” The fairy said, “Thanks to you, you are still a scholar. Didn’t your predecessor, Mr. Zhuang Zhou, say, ‘If you stay in a house full of orchids for a long time, you won’t be able to smell the fragrance’? After staying in the sky for a long time, it is inevitable that some lonely, occasionally to play on earth.” Guo Han asked again, “I heard that there is a medicine that people can eat to live forever, do you know where to find it?” The fairy said, “There is no such medicine on earth, but it is everywhere in heaven.” Guo Han said, “Since there is a lot of it in heaven, you should bring some down and let people taste it.” The fairy said, “I can’t bring it down with me. If you bring something from heaven to earth, it will lose its aura. Otherwise, Qin Shi Huang and Han Wu Di would have eaten it.” Guo Han said, “You keep saying that it comes from heaven, with what proof you are not telling lies to coax people?”
The fairy asked Guo Han to look at her clothes. Guo Han looked closely and saw that the clothes were colorful and shimmering. The most amazing thing was that the whole set of clothes was in one piece, and there was not a single stitch in sight. Guo Han was amazed! The fairy said, “It’s seamless. You don’t even know how to do that, and you’re still a genius. Guo Han laughed out loud after hearing this, and when he looked again, the fairy was gone. The next day, Guo Han told his neighbors about his strange encounter at night, and people couldn’t help but be surprised.
Similar Idioms:
- 完美无缺
- 浑然一体
