"Oath of the Peach Garden" originates from Romance of the Three Kingdoms and tells the story of Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, who made a solemn sacrifice to Heaven and Earth in a peach garden and became sworn brothers of different surnames. Literally, the idiom means to become sworn brothers in a peach garden; in its deeper sense, it refers to like-minded people forming a bond of life-and-death partnership, emphasizing loyalty, righteousness, and mutual assistance. In cultural context, it embodies the spirit of "righteousness" in traditional Chinese Confucian culture, as well as the brotherhood in martial arts culture expressed by the vow, "We do not ask to be born on the same year, month, and day, but only to die on the same year, month, and day." It is mostly used to describe deep friendship between friends, close cooperation within a team, or ironically to satirize relationships in which people call each other brothers on the surface while each harbors hidden motives. In emotional coloring, it is mostly commendatory, carrying a sense of solemnity, heroism, and poignancy, but it can also be used ironically.
📝 Example
1. The three of them became sworn brothers in the early days of their startup, vowing to share weal and woe. Now that the company has gone public, they are still as close as brothers. (Here it refers to becoming sworn brothers like Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, bound in life and death, emphasizing loyalty and unity.)
2. The two gang leaders made a show of becoming sworn brothers, but behind each other's backs they schemed against one another, and in the end they turned against each other. (Here it refers to a formal sworn brotherhood, with a sarcastic tone, suggesting hypocrisy.)