东边日出西边雨

東邊日出西邊雨

dōngbiānrìchūxībiānyǔ

phrase

Meanings

1 sun rises in the east while rain falls in the west — a paradoxical, mixed situation; or: feelings that are both 'there and not there'
2 literally: on the east side, the sun comes out; on the west side, rain

Characters

Examples

今天天气真是东边日出西边雨。

Jīntiān tiānqì zhēn shì dōng biān rì chū xī biān yǔ.

Today's weather is literally 'sunny in the east, rainy in the west'.

他的态度东边日出西边雨，让人摸不透。

Tā de tàidù dōng biān rì chū xī biān yǔ, ràng rén mō bù tòu.

His attitude is all 'sun in the east, rain in the west' — impossible to read.

Tips

history

From Liu Yuxi's (刘禹锡) Tang 《竹枝词》 (Bamboo Branch Song), a poem imitating the folk songs of Ba-Shu (modern Sichuan/Chongqing). Couplet: 东边日出西边雨，道是无晴却有晴 — 'Sun in the east, rain in the west; you'd say it's not clear, and yet it is.' The poet puns on 晴 (clear sky) / 情 (feeling): the girl in the song can't tell whether her man has feelings for her — it's like the weather, half rainy, half sunny.

usage

Paired couplet — the pun with 情 in 道是无晴却有晴 is the soul of the line. Used for (a) literal split weather, (b) mixed or ambiguous feelings, (c) uneven situations where some part of a system is up and another down.

Stroke Order

东 dōng

边 biān

日 rì

出 chū

西 xī

雨 yǔ