三
顾
茅
庐
About
The Chinese word "三顾茅庐" is formed by sequentially combining the characters for "three" (三), "to visit" (顾), and "thatched cottage" (茅庐), directly deriving from the historical account of Liu Bei making three trips to Zhuge Liang's humble dwelling to solicit his service, thus creating a four-character idiom that literally describes this specific event.
Word Definition - 三顾茅庐
lit. to make three visits to the thatched cottage (idiom) (allusion to an episode in Romance of the Three Kingdoms 三國演義|三国演义[sān guó yǎn yì] in which Liu Bei 劉備|刘备[liú bèi] recruits Zhuge Liang 諸葛亮|诸葛亮[zhū gě liàng] to his cause by visiting him three times); fig. to make earnest and repeated requests of sb