凄凄惨惨戚戚

From Li Qingzhao's 李清照 (Southern Song dynasty) 《声声慢》: 寻寻觅觅，冷冷清清，凄凄惨惨戚戚 - '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.

The 戚 at the start of 戚戚 reads qī, and the whole line uses only level (ping) 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.