我言秋日胜春朝

我言秋日勝春朝

wǒyánqiūrìshèngchūnzhāo

phrase

Meanings

1 I say an autumn day beats a spring morning
2 Liu Yuxi's defiant rebuttal to the ancient trope that autumn is sad

Characters

Examples

秋高气爽时我最痛快，我言秋日胜春朝。

Qiūgāoqìshuǎng shí wǒ zuì tòngkuài, wǒ yán qiū rì shèng chūn zhāo.

When the autumn air is crisp I'm happiest — I say an autumn day beats a spring morning.

朋友说伤春悲秋，她反驳道："我言秋日胜春朝！"

Péngyǒu shuō shāngchūn-bēiqiū, tā fǎnbó dào: "Wǒ yán qiū rì shèng chūn zhāo!"

When friends lamented spring's end and autumn's sadness, she shot back: 'I say an autumn day beats a spring morning!'

Tips

history

From 《秋词》 by 刘禹锡 (Liu Yuxi, Tang dynasty): '自古逢秋悲寂寥，我言秋日胜春朝.' Written during exile — a deliberate rebuke of Song Yu's 悲秋 lament ('nine ages of grieving autumn'). The same poem contains 晴空一鹤排云上 earlier in this batch.

usage

言 here = 'say / maintain,' classical register. 朝 read zhāo = 'morning' (not cháo = 'dynasty').

Stroke Order

我 wǒ

言 yán

秋 qiū

日 rì

胜 shèng

春 chūn

朝 cháo