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天生丽质难自弃

天生麗質難自棄
tiānshēnglìzhìnánzìqì
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 heaven-born beauty is hard to let go to waste
  2. 2 (fig.) a talent or beauty given by nature cannot long remain hidden
  3. 3 (lit.) heaven-born fair-quality hard to-self-abandon

Examples

她舞蹈天赋惊人，真是天生丽质难自弃。
Tā wǔdǎo tiānfù jīngrén, zhēn shì tiānshēng lì zhì nán zì qì.
Her dance talent is astonishing — truly 'heaven-born quality is hard to waste.'
天生丽质难自弃，一朝选在君王侧——白居易写杨贵妃的一生。
Tiānshēng lì zhì nán zì qì, yī zhāo xuǎn zài jūnwáng cè — Bái Jūyì xiě Yáng Guìfēi de yīshēng.
'Heaven-born beauty cannot be hidden; one morning she was chosen by the emperor's side' — Bai Juyi's line on Yang Guifei.

Tips

history
From 白居易《长恨歌》(Bai Juyi, Song of Everlasting Sorrow, 806, Tang) — the 120-line narrative poem on Emperor Xuanzong and his consort Yang Guifei. On Yang Guifei's first selection into the palace: 杨家有女初长成，养在深闺人未识。天生丽质难自弃，一朝选在君王侧 (The Yang family had a daughter just come of age, raised in the inner chambers, still unknown to the world. Heaven-born beauty is hard to waste — one morning she was chosen to stand at the emperor's side). One of the most quoted openings in all Chinese narrative verse.
usage
Always paired with 一朝选在君王侧 (one morning chosen at the ruler's side). In modern use often applied to talent as well as beauty — a hidden gift that inevitably reveals itself.

Stroke Order

天 tiān
生 shēng
丽 lì
质 zhì
难 nán
自 zì
弃 qì