风流总被雨打风吹去

風流總被雨打風吹去
fēngliú zǒng bèi yǔ dǎ fēng chuī qù
quotation

Meanings

  1. 1 all glory and romance are in the end beaten by rain and blown off by wind
  2. 2 (fig.) the splendor of past heroes and times inevitably fades into history
  3. 3 (lit.) elegance - always gets rain-struck and wind-blown away

Examples

HSK 7-9
Zài huīhuáng de wángcháo yě díbúguò shíjiān, fēngliú zǒng bèi yǔ dǎ fēng chuī qù.
No matter how glorious, every dynasty loses to time - 'elegance is always beaten by rain and swept by wind.'
HSK 7-9
Tā wàngzhe jiù chéngqiáng gǎntàn dào, fēngliú zǒng bèi yǔ dǎ fēng chuī qù.
Looking at the old city wall, he sighed: 'all glory is battered down by rain and wind in the end.'

Tips

history
From 辛弃疾 《永遇乐·京口北固亭怀古》 (Southern Song, 1205): 千古江山英雄无觅孙仲谋处舞榭歌台风流总被雨打风吹去 (Through the ages this land, but no place left to seek the hero Sun Zhongmou. Dancing pavilions, singing terraces - all their glory beaten down by rain, blown off by wind). Xin climbed Beigu Pavilion in Jingkou and mourned both the lost Three Kingdoms-era heroes and the Southern Song's failure to recover the north.
usage
风流 in this context = 'splendor / dash / romantic glory' of past figures, NOT the modern sense 'promiscuous.' The line is a staple quotation for any meditation on historical decline.

Stroke Order

fēng
liú
zǒng
bèi
chuī