mèngdié
dreaming of being a butterfly
- dreaming of being a butterfly
- (literary) To dream of being a butterfly; an allusion to a story in the 庄子 zhuāngzǐ where the philosopher 庄周 zhuāngzhōu dreams of becoming a butterfly and awakes unsure if he is a man who dreamed of being a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming of being a man; used as a metaphor for the illusory and fleeting nature of human life