乍暖还寒时候

乍暖還寒時候

zhànuǎnháihánshíhòu

phrase

Meanings

1 the season when it turns warm then cold again
2 (of early spring / late autumn) an unsettled, chilly-warm transitional weather
3 (lit.) suddenly warm, yet cold, weather

Characters

period (时候 = season / time)

Examples

三月乍暖还寒时候，最容易感冒。

Sānyuè zhà nuǎn hái hán shíhòu, zuì róngyì gǎnmào.

In March's 'warm-yet-cold' weather, it's easiest to catch a cold.

乍暖还寒时候，最难将息——李清照这句写尽了换季的难受。

Zhà nuǎn hái hán shíhòu, zuì nán jiāngxī — Lǐ Qīngzhào zhè jù xiě jìn le huànjì de nánshòu.

'A warm-then-cold season, hardest to rest in' — Li Qingzhao's line captures perfectly the misery of changing seasons.

Tips

history

From 李清照《声声慢·寻寻觅觅》(Li Qingzhao, Southern Song): 寻寻觅觅，冷冷清清，凄凄惨惨戚戚。乍暖还寒时候，最难将息 (Seeking, searching; cold, lonely; miserable, wretched, grieving. A time that warms then chills again — hardest to rest in). Written in her widowed exile after the Jurchen invasion; the opening fourteen doubled characters 寻寻觅觅...戚戚 is one of the most celebrated technical feats in Chinese ci.

usage

还 here reads hái (modern 'still'), though some older readings give huán. 乍 = 'suddenly, just.' The phrase is now everyday vocabulary for early-spring / late-autumn weather.

Stroke Order

乍 zhà

暖 nuǎn

还 hái

寒 hán

时 shí

候 hòu