Best known from
辛弃疾's ci 《
青玉案·
元夕》:
众里寻他千百度,
蓦然回首,
那人却在灯火阑珊处 'I searched the crowd for her a thousand times, then suddenly turned my head, and there she was where the lantern light was dim.' The critic
王国维 later took it as the image for the last stage of any great pursuit, when the answer appears after long searching.