千载难逢
- Literal
- hard to come across in a thousand years
- Figurative
- An extremely rare occasion, the kind that hardly ever comes around again; an exceptional opportunity you shouldn't let slip.
Where does 千载难逢 come from?
The phrase took its fixed shape in a memorial of thanks that Han Yu, a Tang dynasty writer and official, sent to the emperor from Chaozhou, where he had been banished. In it he urges the emperor to hold a great state ceremony and calls it "a fortunate gathering not met with in a thousand years," regretting that his disgrace keeps him from attending. From that phrase came the four-character idiom, which today has nothing to do with court ritual and everything to do with any exceptional chance: an offer, a trip, a meeting unlikely to come again.
Source (出处): 韩愈《潮州刺史谢上表》
How is 千载难逢 used? Two examples
- 这么好的机会千载难逢，你可别错过。
A chance like this doesn't come twice — don't let it slip.
- 能跟他同台演出，是千载难逢的事。
Getting to share a stage with him is a once-in-a-lifetime thing.
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