岁岁年年人不同

歲歲年年人不同

suì suì nián nián rén bù tóng

quotation

Meanings

1 year after year the people are different
2 the flowers return the same, but the people who see them change (reflection on time)

Characters

Examples

HSK 5

年年岁岁花相似，岁岁年年人不同。

Niánniánsuìsuìhuāxiāngsì, suìsuìniánniánrénbùtóng.

Year after year the flowers look the same, but year after year the people are different.

HSK 7-9

同学聚会上，真有‘岁岁年年人不同’的感慨。

Tóngxué jùhuì shàng, zhēn yǒu ' suìsuìniánniánrénbùtóng ' de gǎnkǎi.

At the class reunion, I truly felt the sigh of 'year after year the people are different.'

Tips

history

From the early-Tang poet 刘希夷 in 《代悲白头翁》: 年年岁岁花相似，岁岁年年人不同 (year upon year the flowers look alike; year upon year the people differ). A traditional tale says his uncle 宋之问 killed him to steal this couplet, likely apocryphal but a sign of how prized these lines were.

usage

Always paired with 年年岁岁花相似. 岁岁年年 and 年年岁岁 are reduplicated pairs that intensify 'year after year.'

Stroke Order

岁 suì

年 nián

人 rén

不 bù

同 tóng