喜怒哀乐

喜怒哀樂

xǐnù-āilè

idiom HSK 7-9 #33,288

Meanings

1 joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness; the full range of emotions

Characters

happiness; pleasure

Four basic emotions bundled into one phrase — the Chinese way of saying 'the full spectrum of human feelings.'

Examples

人生充满了喜怒哀乐。

Rénshēng chōngmǎn le xǐnù'āilè.

Life is full of joys and sorrows.

他喜怒哀乐都写在脸上。

Tā xǐnù'āilè dōu xiě zài liǎnshàng.

All his emotions show on his face.

Tips

culture

This set of four emotions comes from the Confucian classic《中庸》(Doctrine of the Mean). Interestingly, 喜 and 乐 are both positive emotions but subtly different — 喜 is excited delight (from an event), while 乐 is contentment/pleasure (a state of being).

Stroke Order

喜 xǐ

怒 nù

哀 āi

乐 lè