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念天地之悠悠

niàntiāndìzhīyōuyōu
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 to meditate on the vast, ceaseless spread of heaven and earth
  2. 2 (fig.) to feel one's own smallness against the infinitude of time and space
  3. 3 (lit.) contemplate — heaven-earth — 's — distant-distant

Examples

独自登上高台，念天地之悠悠，不禁落泪。
Dúzì dēngshàng gāotái, niàn tiāndì zhī yōuyōu, bùjīn luòlèi.
Climbing the high tower alone, contemplating heaven and earth's vastness, tears came unbidden.
看着星空，她想起念天地之悠悠这一句。
Kànzhe xīngkōng, tā xiǎngqǐ niàn tiāndì zhī yōuyōu zhè yī jù.
Gazing at the stars, she thought of the line 'contemplating the vastness of heaven and earth.'

Tips

history
From 陈子昂《登幽州台歌》 (Chen Zi'ang, Tang, c. 696 CE), a 22-character masterpiece: 前不见古人，后不见来者。念天地之悠悠，独怆然而涕下 (Ahead I see no ancients; behind, no one yet to come. I ponder heaven and earth in all their vastness — alone, mournful, tears falling). Widely considered the most concentrated expression of existential loneliness in classical Chinese poetry.
usage
Almost always recited with the follow-up 独怆然而涕下. 悠悠 = far-reaching, unbroken, ceaseless — a classical reduplicative used for both space and time. 之 is the classical possessive/attributive particle linking 天地 and 悠悠.

Stroke Order

念 niàn
天 tiān
地 dì
之 zhī
悠 yōu