自古逢秋悲寂寥

Zìgǔ féng qiū bēi jìliáo

quotation

Meanings

1 since ancient times, every autumn brings grief and desolation
2 Liu Yuxi's setup - he quotes the old trope only to overturn it in the next line

Characters

meet / every time

Examples

HSK 5

自古逢秋悲寂寥，可我觉得秋天最适合看书。

Zìgǔféngqiūbēijìliáo, kě wǒ juéde qiūtiān zuì shìhé kàn shū.

Since ancient times autumn has meant grief - but I think autumn is the best time to read.

HSK 7-9

一进十月，文人就自古逢秋悲寂寥。

Yī jìn shíyuè, wénrén jiù zìgǔféngqiūbēijìliáo.

Come October, men of letters start 'grieving the ancient autumn of desolation.'

Tips

history

Opening of 《秋词》 by 刘禹锡 (Liu Yuxi, Tang dynasty): 自古逢秋悲寂寥，我言秋日胜春朝. The whole poem is an explicit anti-悲秋 manifesto - he names the tradition only to reject it.

usage

寂寥 = 'silent and lonely / desolate,' still used in modern Chinese for a melancholy emptiness.

Stroke Order

自 zì

古 gǔ

逢 féng

秋 qiū

悲 bēi

寂 jì

寥 liáo