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凄凄惨惨戚戚

淒淒慘慘戚戚
qī qī cǎn cǎn qī qī
quotation

Meanings

  1. 1 bleak, bleak, mournful, mournful, grief-laden
  2. 2 an overwhelming cascade of desolation and sorrow
  3. 3 six reduplicated characters piling on emotional weight

Examples

读到这里，整首词都是凄凄惨惨戚戚的调子。
Dú dào zhèlǐ, zhěng shǒu cí dōu shì qīqīcǎncǎnqīqī de diàozi.
Reading this far, the whole ci poem is pitched in a bleak, mournful, grief-laden key.
电影的配乐营造出凄凄惨惨戚戚的氛围。
Diànyǐng de pèiyuè yíngzào chū qīqīcǎncǎnqīqī de fēnwéi.
The film's score creates a 'bleak-bleak-mournful-mournful-grieving' atmosphere.

Tips

history
From Li Qingzhao's (李清照, Southern Song dynasty) 《声声慢》: 寻寻觅觅，冷冷清清，凄凄惨惄戚戚 — 'Searching, searching; cold, cold, quiet, quiet; bleak, bleak, mournful, mournful, grief-laden.' The opening fourteen reduplicated characters — a widow's lament after fleeing north as the Jurchens sacked the capital — are often called the most famous opening of any Chinese ci poem.
usage
The 戚 at the start of 戚戚 reads qī, not qi1 variant — the whole line uses only ping (level) tones to simulate sobbing. 凄 and 戚 are near-homophones, and the author pairs them deliberately for the hypnotic effect. In modern speech the phrase is invoked to describe any overwhelmingly gloomy atmosphere.

Stroke Order

凄 qī
惨 cǎn
戚 qī