生当作人杰

生當作人傑

shēngdāngzuòrénjié

phrase

Meanings

1 in life one should be a hero among men
2 Li Qingzhao's iron-jawed line — refusing to live or die as a coward

Characters

in life / alive

hero / outstanding

Examples

他以"生当作人杰"激励自己，投身公益事业。

Tā yǐ "shēng dāng zuò rénjié" jīlì zìjǐ, tóushēn gōngyì shìyè.

He pushed himself with 'in life one should be a hero among men' and threw himself into charity work.

李清照一句"生当作人杰"，比多少男子的诗更有气概。

Lǐ Qīngzhào yī jù "shēng dāng zuò rénjié", bǐ duōshǎo nánzǐ de shī gèng yǒu qìgài.

Li Qingzhao's line 'in life one should be a hero among men' has more spine than many a male poet's verse.

Tips

history

Opening of 《夏日绝句》 by 李清照 (Li Qingzhao, Song dynasty): '生当作人杰，死亦为鬼雄。至今思项羽，不肯过江东.' A biting rebuke of the Song court fleeing south — written as the empire was collapsing, praising 项羽 Xiang Yu for choosing death over flight.

usage

人杰 = 'hero among men / outstanding person,' still a productive word today (e.g. 人杰地灵).

Stroke Order

生 shēng

当 dāng

作 zuò

人 rén

杰 jié