欲饮琵琶马上催

欲飲琵琶馬上催

yù yǐn pípá mǎ shàng cuī

quotation

Meanings

1 just as we'd drink, the pipa from horseback urges us on
2 (fig.) the doomed revelry of frontier soldiers called back to battle mid-toast
3 (lit.) wish-to-drink, pipa on-horseback urges

Characters

to drink (欲饮 = just about to drink)

half of 琵琶 (pipa = lute)

on (马上 = on horseback)

催

cuī

to urge / hasten

Examples

读欲饮琵琶马上催，仿佛听见边塞战鼓。

Dú yùyǐnpípámǎshàngcuī, fǎngfú tīngjiàn biān sài zhàngǔ.

Reading 'just as we'd drink, pipa from horseback hurries us,' one seems to hear the frontier war-drums.

他形容部队出征前夜，真有欲饮琵琶马上催的悲壮。

Tā xíngróng bùduì chūzhēng qiányè, zhēn yǒu yùyǐnpípámǎshàngcuī de bēi zhuàng.

He described the unit's eve before deployment as truly having the tragic grandeur of 'drink cut short by the pipa from horseback.'

Tips

history

From 王翰《凉州词》(Wang Han, Tang, early 8th c.): 葡萄美酒夜光杯，欲饮琵琶马上催。醉卧沙场君莫笑，古来征战几人回 (Fine grape wine in a jade nightglow cup — just as we'd drink, the pipa from horseback urges us on. Drunk and fallen on the battlefield — do not laugh, friend — from of old, how many return from war?). One of the most famous frontier poems (塞外诗) of the Tang, set at the Liangzhou garrison on the Silk Road.

usage

马上 here is literal 'on horseback' (reading mǎshàng, two syllables), NOT the modern adverb 'at once' (same spelling, different sense). The pipa is being played by a mounted horseman urging the soldiers to ride out. Always recited with the immortal 醉卧沙场君莫笑 line.

Stroke Order

欲 yù

饮 yǐn

琵 pí

琶 pá

马 mǎ

上 shàng

催 cuī