秦人不暇自哀

Qín rén bù xiá zì āi
quotation

Meanings

  1. 1 the people of Qin had no leisure to mourn themselves
  2. 2 Du Mu's grim line on the fall of the Qin - their doom came so fast no one had time to grieve

Examples

HSK 7-9
阿房宫》,"秦人不暇自哀"脊背发凉
Dú 《 Ēpánggōng Fù 》, " Qín rén bù xiá zì āi " nà duàn ràng rén jǐbèi fāliáng.
Reading 'E Pang Palace Rhapsody,' the 'Qin had no time to mourn' passage sends chills down the spine.
HSK 7-9
Wángcháo bēngtā shí, Qín rén bù xiá zì āi, hòurén āi zhī ér bù jiàn zhī, yì shǐ hòurén ér fù āi hòurén yě.
When dynasties fall, the Qin have no time to mourn themselves; if later men mourn without learning, still later men will mourn them in turn.

Tips

history
From 《阿房宫赋》 by Du Mu 杜牧 (late Tang): 秦人不暇自哀,而后人哀之;后人哀之而不鉴之,亦使后人而复哀后人也. Warning: if later dynasties mourn Qin without learning Qin's lesson, they will repeat it. Du Mu meant the late Tang - the line became a historical-cycle aphorism.
usage
不暇 = 'have no leisure/time to' (still used today, e.g. 自顾不暇). 自哀 = 'grieve for oneself.'

Stroke Order

Qín
rén
xiá
āi