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春宵一刻值千金

chūnxiāoyīkèzhíqiānjīn
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 a moment of a spring night is worth a thousand in gold
  2. 2 (fig.) precious fleeting time — often applied to beauty, romance, or a wedding night
  3. 3 (lit.) spring night one-instant worth thousand gold

Examples

春宵一刻值千金，花有清香月有阴，最能道出春夜的美好。
Chūnxiāo yī kè zhí qiānjīn, huā yǒu qīngxiāng yuè yǒu yīn, zuì néng dàochū chūnyè de měihǎo.
'A moment of a spring night is worth a thousand in gold — flowers bear soft fragrance, the moon a quiet shade' — no line better captures spring evenings.
新婚夫妇总会被长辈笑说春宵一刻值千金。
Xīnhūn fūfù zǒng huì bèi zhǎngbèi xiào shuō chūnxiāo yī kè zhí qiānjīn.
Elders always tease newlyweds with 'a moment of a spring night is worth a thousand in gold.'

Tips

history
From 苏轼《春宵》(Su Shi, Northern Song), a short seven-character quatrain: 春宵一刻值千金，花有清香月有阴。歌管楼台声细细，秋千院落夜沉沉 (A moment of a spring night is worth a thousand gold; flowers hold soft fragrance, the moon a gentle shade. From terrace and pavilion, song and pipe ring delicate; in the swing-courtyard, night settles deep). Originally a meditation on spring's fleetingness, popular culture redirected it to wedding-night humor by the Ming-Qing period.
usage
A standard wedding couplet / banter line in modern life; the original poetic sense (precious spring night generally) is now minority usage. 一刻 = originally 1/96 of a day (~15 min); here simply 'a brief moment.'

Stroke Order

春 chūn
宵 xiāo
一 yī
刻 kè
值 zhí
千 qiān
金 jīn