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相逢何必曾相识

相逢何必曾相識
xiāngféng hébì céng xiāngshí
quotation

Meanings

  1. 1 to meet - why need we have known each other before?
  2. 2 a chance encounter can form instant, genuine connection
  3. 3 mutually-meet, what-need previously mutually-acquainted

Examples

HSK 7-9
旅途中遇见知音，相逢何必曾相识。
Lǚtú zhōng yùjiàn zhīyīn, xiāngfénghébìcéngxiāngshí.
Meeting a kindred spirit on the road - 'why must we have known each other before?'
HSK 7-9
两位作家一见如故，正是相逢何必曾相识。
Liǎng wèi zuòjiā yíjiànrúgù, zhèngshì xiāngfénghébìcéngxiāngshí.
The two writers hit it off instantly - truly 'meeting, why must we have been acquainted before?'

Tips

history
From 白居易 《琵琶行》 (Bai Juyi, Tang, 816): 同是天涯沦落人，相逢何必曾相识 (We are both fallen wanderers at the world's edge - to meet, why must we have been acquainted before?). Bai, demoted to Jiangzhou, encountered a former Chang'an courtesan playing pipa on a moonlit boat; their shared decline needed no introduction. One of the most quoted couplets in the Chinese canon.
usage
Inseparable from its companion line 同是天涯沦落人. Used when two strangers form an immediate bond through shared experience. 何必 = why must (rhetorical).

Stroke Order

相 xiāng
逢 féng
何 hé
必 bì
曾 céng
识 shí