北方有佳人

Běifāng yǒu jiārén

quotation

Meanings

1 in the north there is a beautiful woman
2 (fig.) the canonical opener for an unmatched beauty; a country-toppling beauty
3 (lit.) north-direction has fine-person

Characters

direction (北方 = the north)

person (佳人 = beauty / lovely lady)

Examples

北方有佳人，绝世而独立，一顾倾人城，这首歌千古传诵。

Běifāngyǒujiārén, juéshì ér dúlì, yī gù qīng rén chéng, zhè shǒu gē qiān gǔ chuán sòng.

'In the north there is a beautiful woman, peerless and apart — one glance and she topples a city' — the song has been recited through the ages.

形容一位风华绝代的女子，人们总爱引北方有佳人。

Xíngróng yī wèi fēnghuá jué dài de nǚzǐ, rénmen zǒng ài yǐn Běifāngyǒujiārén.

To describe a woman of unmatched grace, people always quote 'in the north there is a beautiful woman.'

Tips

history

From 李延年《北方有佳人》(Li Yannian, Western Han, ~110 BCE), a song performed before Emperor Wu of Han introducing his own sister (later Lady Li, 李夫人): 北方有佳人，绝世而独立。一顾倾人城，再顾倾人国。宁不知倾城与倾国？佳人难再得 (In the north there is a beautiful woman, peerless and standing alone. One glance topples a city, a second topples a state. How not know a city-toppler, a state-toppler? — a beauty like this comes once). The song is the origin of the phrases 倾城 / 倾国 / 倾城倾国 (devastating beauty).

usage

Typically cited with 绝世而独立 — together they evoke the entire song. The 倾城倾国 trope that dominates Chinese romantic vocabulary begins here. Modern songs (邓丽君, 王菲) have set the lyric to music.

Stroke Order

北 běi

方 fāng

有 yǒu

佳 jiā

人 rén