寄托

• Pinyin: jì tuō
• Hanzi breakdown: 寄 = 宀 + 奇 (shelter + strange — lodging somewhere distant); 托 = 扌 + 乇 (hand + entrust — placing something in another's hands)

Meaning

To place (hope, feelings, or reliance) on someone or something; to entrust one's emotions or aspirations to a person, object, or ideal.

Often used for emotional dependence or the channelling of feelings onto external things. Common in literary and psychological contexts. Can describe placing hope in future generations, expressing longing through art, or relying on someone emotionally.

Examples

1. 她将对故乡的思念寄托于每年亲手腌制的一坛泡菜之中。 She pours her longing for her hometown into a jar of pickles she makes by hand every year.
2. 父亲将毕生未能实现的梦想寄托在儿子身上，期盼他能走出一条不同的人生道路。 The father placed his lifelong unrealized dream on his son, hoping he would carve out a different path in life.
3. 诗人借梅花的意象寄托自己在乱世中坚守节气、不随波逐流的精神追求。 Using the image of plum blossoms, the poet expresses his resolve to keep his integrity in a chaotic age and not go with the flow.

Usage Guide

Context: literature, emotions, culture

Tone: expressive

Do Say

• 面对长期的离别之苦，她将对丈夫的思念寄托在日复一日的书信往来中，以文字维系着两颗相隔千里的心。(Unable to bear the long separation, she channelled her longing for her husband into daily correspondence, sustaining two hearts separated by great distance through the written word.)
• 这幅山水画不仅是艺术技法的展示，更是画家将个人理想与精神追求寄托于自然意境之中的一种内在表达。(This landscape painting is not merely a display of artistic technique; it is also an inner expression of the painter placing personal ideals and spiritual aspirations within the realm of natural imagery.)

Don't Say

• 寄托 vs 依赖 — 寄托 implies channelling emotions or hope onto something, carrying a poetic or aspirational quality; 依赖 simply means reliance or dependence on something for practical or emotional support. Using 依赖 in literary or emotional contexts would lose the resonance of 寄托

Origin & History

寄 (to send; to place/lodge) + 托 (to entrust; to rely on)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal