悲欢离合
- Literal
- sorrow, joy, parting, reunion
- Figurative
- The sorrows and joys, partings and reunions of a life; unlike 酸甜苦辣, the stress falls on people drifting apart and coming back together.
Where does 悲欢离合 come from?
Its most famous appearance is in Su Shi's poem "Shuidiao getou," written at the Mid-Autumn Festival of 1076. The preface says the poet drank merrily until dawn, got drunk, and wrote the piece while also thinking of his brother Su Zhe (Ziyou). Near the end it says: "People have sorrow and joy, parting and reunion; the moon has shadow and light, fullness and waning; since ancient times, it has been hard to have it all." Today it sums up the ups and downs of a life, a family, or an era, and it tends to sound literary.
Source (出处): 苏轼《水调歌头》
How is 悲欢离合 used? Two examples
- 这部电视剧讲的是一家人几十年的悲欢离合。
The series follows one family's partings, reunions, joys, and sorrows over several decades.
- 我在机场工作了十年，见惯了悲欢离合。
I've worked at the airport for ten years, and I've seen more than my share of goodbyes and reunions.
In Wanyu, all 400 chengyu have audio on every sentence, and you can save them to your decks and review them with spaced repetition. Free.
