君不见黄河之水天上来

君不見黃河之水天上來

jūnbùjiànhuánghézhīshuǐtiānshànglái

phrase

Meanings

1 do you not see the Yellow River's waters come down from heaven
2 opening line of Li Bai's wine song — evoking the unstoppable flow of time and fate

Characters

you (honorific)

's (classical particle)

Examples

老师朗诵"君不见黄河之水天上来"，全班都被震撼了。

Lǎoshī lǎngsòng "jūn bù jiàn Huáng Hé zhī shuǐ tiān shàng lái", quán bān dōu bèi zhènhàn le.

When the teacher recited 'Do you not see the Yellow River's waters come down from heaven,' the whole class was stunned.

他醉后高呼"君不见黄河之水天上来"，豪气冲天。

Tā zuì hòu gāo hū "jūn bù jiàn Huáng Hé zhī shuǐ tiān shàng lái", háoqì chōngtiān.

Drunk, he bellowed 'Do you not see the Yellow River's waters come down from heaven' — pure bravado.

Tips

history

Opening couplet of 《将进酒》 by 李白 (Li Bai, Tang dynasty): '君不见黄河之水天上来，奔流到海不复回。' Pairs with a second 君不见 line about white hair in a mirror — youth and time, both rushing past.

usage

君不见 ('do you not see') is a classical apostrophe. Used today to open a dramatic quotation or to mock someone bloviating.

Stroke Order

君 jūn

不 bù

见 jiàn

黄 huáng

河 hé

之 zhī

水 shuǐ

天 tiān

上 shàng

来 lái