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凄凄惨惨戚戚

淒淒慘慘戚戚
qīqīcǎncǎnqīqī
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 bleak, bleak, mournful, mournful, grief-laden
  2. 2 an overwhelming cascade of desolation and sorrow
  3. 3 six reduplicated characters piling on emotional weight

Examples

读到这里，整首词都是凄凄惨惨戚戚的调子。
Dú dào zhèlǐ, zhěng shǒu cí dōu shì qī qī cǎn cǎn qī qī de diàozi.
Reading this far, the whole ci poem is pitched in a bleak, mournful, grief-laden key.
电影的配乐营造出凄凄惨惨戚戚的氛围。
Diànyǐng de pèiyuè yíngzào chū qī qī cǎn cǎn qī qī de fēnwéi.
The film's score creates a 'bleak-bleak-mournful-mournful-grieving' atmosphere.

Tips

history
From Li Qingzhao's (李清照, Southern Song dynasty) 《声声慢》: 寻寻觅觅，冷冷清清，凄凄惨惄戚戚 — 'Searching, searching; cold, cold, quiet, quiet; bleak, bleak, mournful, mournful, grief-laden.' The opening fourteen reduplicated characters — a widow's lament after fleeing north as the Jurchens sacked the capital — are often called the most famous opening of any Chinese ci poem.
usage
The 戚 at the start of 戚戚 reads qī, not qi1 variant — the whole line uses only ping (level) tones to simulate sobbing. 凄 and 戚 are near-homophones, and the author pairs them deliberately for the hypnotic effect. In modern speech the phrase is invoked to describe any overwhelmingly gloomy atmosphere.

Stroke Order

凄 qī
惨 cǎn
戚 qī