庭院深深深几许

庭院深深深幾許

tíngyuàn shēnshēn shēn jǐxǔ

quotation

Meanings

1 how deep, how deep is the courtyard?
2 evoking the loneliness and hidden life of an inner chamber
3 (lit.) courtyard deep, deep, how deep?

Characters

yard / courtyard

about / approximately (几许 = how much)

Examples

走进这座老宅，真有种庭院深深深几许的感觉。

Zǒujìn zhè zuò lǎo zhái, zhēn yǒuzhǒng tíngyuànshēnshēnshēnjǐxǔ de gǎnjué.

Stepping into the old mansion, you feel the line 'how deep, how deep is the courtyard.'

豪门内幕，庭院深深深几许，外人难以窥见。

Háomén nèimù, tíngyuànshēnshēnshēnjǐxǔ, wàirén nányǐ kuī jiàn.

The inner workings of great families are like deep, deep courtyards — outsiders rarely glimpse them.

Tips

history

Opening line of Ouyang Xiu's (欧阳修, Northern Song) 《蝶恋花·庭院深深深几许》: 庭院深深深几许？杨柳堆烟，帘幕无重数。(How deep, how deep is the courtyard? Willows piled like mist, curtains beyond counting.) A woman laments her absent lover behind layered courtyards. Li Qingzhao (李清照) loved the line so much she wrote several poems borrowing the phrase.

usage

The three repeated 深 characters (shēn shēn shēn) are deliberately incantatory — don't flatten them in reading. 几许 is classical for 'how much / how many' (≈ 多少).

Stroke Order

庭 tíng

院 yuàn

深 shēn

几 jǐ

许 xǔ