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长太息以掩涕兮

長太息以掩涕兮
chángtàixīyǐyǎntìxī
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 I heave a long sigh and hide my tears
  2. 2 an exclamation of grief for a suffering people
  3. 3 lit. a long sigh, to cover my tears — alas!

Examples

读到灾民的惨状，他不禁长太息以掩涕。
Dú dào zāimín de cǎnzhuàng, tā bùjīn cháng tàixī yǐ yǎn tì.
Reading about the disaster victims' plight, he could not help but heave a long sigh and hide his tears.
屈原长太息以掩涕兮，哀民生之多艰的情怀今天依然动人。
Qū Yuán cháng tàixī yǐ yǎn tì xī, āi mín shēng zhī duō jiān de qínghuái jīntiān yīrán dòngrén.
Qu Yuan's sentiment — heaving long sighs to hide his tears, grieving at the hardness of the people's lives — still moves us today.

Tips

history
From 《离骚》 (Lí Sāo, 'Encountering Sorrow') by Qu Yuan (屈原, Warring States, state of Chu). The full couplet: 长太息以掩涕兮，哀民生之多艰 — 'I heave a long sigh and hide my tears, mourning the many hardships of the people's lives.' The single most-quoted line from Chinese literature's first great lyric poem.
usage
兮 (xī) is an exclamatory particle characteristic of Chu ci (楚辞) poetry — it carries no meaning, only rhythm and emotional release, like an Homeric 'O!'. 太息 = a deep, long sigh (older written form of 叹息).

Stroke Order

长 cháng
太 tài
息 xī
以 yǐ
掩 yǎn
涕 tì
兮 xī