东边日出西边雨

東邊日出西邊雨

dōng biān rì chū xī biān yǔ

quotation

Meanings

1 sun rises in the east while rain falls in the west - a paradoxical, mixed situation; or: feelings that are both 'there and not there'
2 literally: on the east side, the sun comes out; on the west side, rain

Characters

Examples

HSK 1

今天天气真是东边日出西边雨。

Jīntiān tiānqì zhēnshì dōngbiānrìchūxībiānyǔ.

Today's weather is literally 'sunny in the east, rainy in the west'.

HSK 4

他的态度东边日出西边雨，让人摸不透。

Tā de tàidù dōngbiānrìchūxībiānyǔ, ràng rén mō bù tòu.

His attitude is all 'sun in the east, rain in the west' - impossible to read.

Tips

history

From Liu Yuxi's (刘禹锡) Tang 《竹枝词》 (Bamboo Branch Song), a poem imitating the folk songs of Ba-Shu (modern Sichuan/Chongqing). Couplet: 东边日出西边雨，道是无晴却有晴 - 'Sun in the east, rain in the west; you'd say it's not clear, and yet it is.' The poet puns on 晴 (clear sky) / 情 (feeling): the girl in the song can't tell whether her man has feelings for her - it's like the weather, half rainy, half sunny.

usage

Paired couplet - the pun with 情 in 道是无晴却有晴 is the soul of the line. Used for (a) literal split weather, (b) mixed or ambiguous feelings, (c) uneven situations where some part of a system is up and another down.

Stroke Order

东 dōng

边 biān

日 rì

出 chū

西 xī

雨 yǔ