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两情若是久长时

兩情若是久長時
liǎngqíngruòshìjiǔchángshí
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 if the love between two people is to endure
  2. 2 opening premise of Qin Guan's reply to lovers who cannot stay together
  3. 3 used in modern Chinese to frame long-distance or enduring love

Examples

两情若是久长时，又岂在朝朝暮暮。
Liǎng qíng ruò shì jiǔ cháng shí, yòu qǐ zài zhāo zhāo mù mù.
If love is truly to endure, what need for morning upon morning, night upon night together?
他用两情若是久长时来安慰异地恋的朋友。
Tā yòng liǎng qíng ruò shì jiǔ cháng shí lái ānwèi yìdì liàn de péngyǒu.
He consoled his long-distance friends with 'if love between two is to endure...'

Tips

history
From Qin Guan's (秦观, Northern Song dynasty) 《鹊桥仙·纤云弄巧》: 两情若是久长时，又岂在朝朝暮暮 — 'If love between two is meant to last, why insist on being together dawn after dawn and dusk after dusk?' The poem retells the legend of the Weaver Girl (织女) and Cowherd (牛郎) who meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month (Qixi, 七夕).
usage
Almost never quoted alone — the line is the 'if' clause; the punch line is 又岂在朝朝暮暮 ('why insist on morning-after-morning, evening-after-evening'). This couplet is the default Qixi Festival greeting in modern China and the most quoted line in any Chinese love song.

Stroke Order

两 liǎng
情 qíng
若 ruò
是 shì
久 jiǔ
长 cháng
时 shí