白发人

白髮人
báifàrén
noun #35,792

Meanings

  1. 1 white-haired person
  2. 2 elderly person
  3. 3 the aged (esp. parent)

Examples

Báifàrén sòng hēifàrén shì rénjiān zuì dà de bēijù.
An elderly parent burying their child is life's greatest tragedy.
Tā bù yuàn ràng jiā zhōng de báifàrén wèi tā dānxīn.
He doesn't want the elderly at home to worry about him.

Tips

culture
Almost exclusively appears in the proverb 白发人黑发 (báifàrén sòng hēifàrén) — 'the white-haired send off the black-haired,' i.e. parents outliving their children. Considered the cruelest fate in traditional Chinese thought, where filial children should bury parents, not the reverse.

Stroke Order

bái
rén