逝者如斯夫

shìzhěrúsīfú

phrase

Meanings

1 time flows on like this
2 what passes is like this (flowing water)
3 thus does all pass away

Characters

to pass / depart

that which (nominalizer)

this (classical)

exclamatory particle (classical)

Examples

逝者如斯夫，不舍昼夜。

Shì zhě rú sī fú, bù shě zhòu yè.

What passes flows on like this — never ceasing day or night.

看着老照片，真有逝者如斯夫的感觉。

Kànzhe lǎo zhàopiàn, zhēn yǒu shì zhě rú sī fú de gǎnjué.

Looking at the old photos, I really felt how time flows on and on.

Tips

history

From 《论语·子罕》 (Analects). Confucius, standing by a river, said: 逝者如斯夫，不舍昼夜 — 'What passes is like this, never ceasing day or night.' One of the most famous meditations on time in world philosophy; inspired over a thousand years of 'river of time' poetry in Chinese.

usage

夫 (fú) here is the classical exclamatory particle — not 'husband' (fū). 斯 (sī) = 'this', pointing to the flowing water before Confucius. Always quoted with 不舍昼夜.

Stroke Order

逝 shì

者 zhě

如 rú

斯 sī

夫 fū