自古逢秋悲寂寥

zìgǔféngqiūbēijìliáo

phrase

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

自古逢秋悲寂寥，可我觉得秋天最适合看书。

Zìgǔ féng qiū bēi jìliáo, 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.

一进十月，文人就自古逢秋悲寂寥。

Yī jìn shí yuè, wénrén jiù zìgǔ féng qiū bēi jìliáo.

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. Ties directly to 我言秋日胜春朝 and 晴空一鹤排云上 in this batch.

usage

寂寥 (jìliáo) = '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