不堪回首

bùkānhuíshǒu

idiom #21,970

Meanings

1 too painful to look back on
2 cannot bear to recall
3 unbearable to reminisce about

Characters

to bear / to endure

to turn back / to return

Examples

那段艰苦的岁月，不堪回首。

Nà duàn jiānkǔ de suìyuè, bùkān huíshǒu.

Those difficult years are too painful to look back on.

战争带来的苦难令人不堪回首。

Zhànzhēng dài lái de kǔnàn lìng rén bùkān huíshǒu.

The suffering brought by war is unbearable to recall.

Tips

history

This phrase comes from Li Yu's (李煜) ci poem 《虞美人》: '小楼昨夜又东风，故国不堪回首月明中.' Li Yu, last ruler of the Southern Tang dynasty, wrote this while a captive of the Song dynasty, lamenting his lost kingdom — a poem so poignant it reportedly led to his execution.

Stroke Order

不 bù

堪 kān

回 huí

首 shǒu