伯牙绝弦

伯牙絕弦

Bóyá-juéxián

idiom

Meanings

1 Boya breaks his strings
2 the loss of a true friend who understood one
3 Boya Juexian, a jasmine milk tea sold by Chagee

Characters

Bo, part of the name Boya

Ya, part of the name Boya

string (of an instrument)

Examples

HSK 4

下午困了，同事帮我点了一杯伯牙绝弦。

Xiàwǔ kùn le, tóngshì bāng wǒ diǎn le yì bēi Bóyá-juéxián.

I was sleepy in the afternoon, so a colleague ordered me a cup of Boya Juexian.

HSK 6

好友去世以后，他像伯牙绝弦一样，再也不写诗了。

Hǎoyǒu qùshì yǐhòu, tā xiàng Bóyá-juéxián yíyàng, zàiyě bù xiě shī le.

After his closest friend died, he never wrote poetry again, like Boya breaking his strings.

HSK 7-9

我们在语文课上学了古文《伯牙绝弦》。

Wǒmen zài yǔwén kè shàng xué le gǔwén 《 Bóyá-juéxián 》.

In Chinese class we studied the classical text 'Boya Breaks His Strings'.

Tips

history

The story is in the 《吕氏春秋》. 伯牙 played the qin, and only the woodcutter 钟子期 could hear the mountains or the flowing water in his music. When Ziqi died, Boya broke his instrument, cut the strings and never played again. The same story gave Chinese 知音 for a true friend and 高山流水 for rare understanding.

Stroke Order

伯 bó

牙 yá

绝 jué

弦 xián