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万径人踪灭

萬徑人蹤滅
wànjìngrénzōngmiè
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 on ten thousand paths, every trace of people is gone
  2. 2 (fig.) total, silent desolation in a snow-covered world
  3. 3 (lit.) ten-thousand paths, human-tracks extinguished

Examples

大雪封山，整片林子真是万径人踪灭。
Dàxuě fēngshān, zhěng piàn línzi zhēn shì wàn jìng rén zōng miè.
A heavy snow sealed the mountain — the whole forest was truly 'ten thousand paths, all traces gone.'
疫情封城那几天，街上万径人踪灭。
Yìqíng fēngchéng nà jǐ tiān, jiē shàng wàn jìng rén zōng miè.
During the pandemic lockdown, the streets were 'ten thousand paths with every human trace gone.'

Tips

history
From 柳宗元《江雪》(Liu Zongyuan, Tang, c. 810s, written during exile in Yongzhou): 千山鸟飞绝，万径人踪灭。孤舟蓑笠翁，独钓寒江雪 (A thousand mountains — all birds have vanished; ten thousand paths — all human tracks gone. A single boat, a straw-cloaked, bamboo-hatted old man, alone fishing the cold river snow). A twenty-character masterpiece; often read as Liu's self-portrait in political isolation.
usage
Inseparable from 千山鸟飞绝 — the two lines form a strict parallel couplet (千/万, 山/径, 鸟/人, 飞/踪, 绝/灭). Acrostic: the first character of each of the poem's four lines reads 千万孤独 ('absolutely alone'), possibly intentional. Quote whenever describing eerie emptiness.

Stroke Order

万 wàn
径 jìng
人 rén
踪 zōng
灭 miè