人有悲欢离合

人有悲歡離合

rényǒubēihuānlíhé

phrase

Meanings

1 people have their sorrows and joys, partings and reunions
2 human life contains sadness and joy, separation and meeting
3 lit. people have grief-joy-parting-union

Characters

reunion, joining

Examples

人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，谁也无法强求完满。

Rén yǒu bēi huān lí hé, yuè yǒu yīn qíng yuán quē, shuí yě wúfǎ qiǎngqiú wánmǎn.

People have sorrow and joy, parting and union; the moon has dark and bright, full and waning — no one can force perfection.

想到人有悲欢离合，他在送别时平静了许多。

Xiǎngdào rén yǒu bēi huān lí hé, tā zài sòngbié shí píngjìng le xǔduō.

Reflecting that people have sorrow and joy, parting and reunion, he grew much calmer at the farewell.

Tips

history

From Su Shi's (苏轼, Northern Song) 《水调歌头·明月几时有》, written Mid-Autumn 1076 while missing his brother Su Zhe: 人有悲欢离合，月有阴晴圆缺，此事古难全 — 'People have sorrow and joy, parting and union; the moon has dark and bright, full and waning. This has been hard to reconcile since ancient times.' One of the most famous ci poems in the language.

usage

Always paired with 月有阴晴圆缺 — the cosmic parallel to the human emotion line. Often quoted on Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节).

Stroke Order

人 rén

有 yǒu

悲 bēi

欢 huān

离 lí

合 hé