不死药

不死藥

bùsǐyào

noun

Measure Word

一颗不死药 kē

Meanings

1 elixir of life
2 immortality drug
3 potion of immortality

Characters

Examples

传说嫦娥偷吃了不死药才飞到月亮上。

Chuánshuō Cháng'é tōuchī le bùsǐyào cái fēi dào yuèliàng shàng.

Legend says Chang'e ate the elixir of immortality and flew to the moon.

秦始皇派人四处寻找不死药。

Qínshǐhuáng pài rén sìchù xúnzhǎo bùsǐyào.

Qin Shi Huang sent people everywhere to search for the elixir of life.

Tips

culture

Central to two famous Chinese myths: Chang'e (嫦娥) ascending to the moon after stealing the elixir from her husband Hou Yi (后羿), and Qin Shi Huang's obsessive — and probably fatal, due to mercury poisoning — quest for immortality. Daoist alchemists spent centuries trying to brew it for real.

In Pop Culture

嫦娥奔月 Cháng'é Bēn Yuè

Chang'e Flies to the Moon

the founding myth of the Mid-Autumn Festival, in which Chang'e drinks the 不死药 to keep it from villains and floats up to live on the moon

Stroke Order

不 bù

死 sǐ

药 yào