世代相传

世代相傳

shìdàixiāngchuán

idiom #36,019

Meanings

1 passed down from generation to generation
2 handed down through the ages

Characters

world; generation

mutually, to each other

to pass on, transmit

Examples

这门手艺在他们家世代相传。

Zhè mén shǒuyì zài tāmen jiā shìdàixiāngchuán.

This craft has been passed down through their family for generations.

许多民间故事就这样世代相传下来。

Xǔduō mínjiān gùshi jiù zhèyàng shìdàixiāngchuán xiàlái.

Many folk tales have been handed down this way from generation to generation.

Tips

usage

Used for things that survive across generations: family crafts, recipes, secret techniques, oral stories. Compare with 代代相传 (dàidài xiāngchuán) — same meaning, slightly more colloquial. CC-CEDICT confirms the chengyu reading though it isn't in 新华成语词典 — it's a transparent compound widely used in modern writing.

memory

Reads literally: 世代 (shìdài, 'generations') + 相传 (xiāngchuán, 'pass to one another') — 'generation by generation, passed along'.

Stroke Order

世 shì

代 dài

相 xiāng

传 chuán