喜怒哀乐

喜怒哀樂

xǐ-nù-āi-lè

idiom HSK 7 #33,288

Meanings

1 joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness; the full range of emotions

Characters

happiness; pleasure

Four basic emotions bundled into one phrase — the Chinese way of saying 'the full spectrum of human feelings.'

Examples

人生充满了喜怒哀乐。

Rénshēng chōngmǎn le xǐ-nù-āi-lè.

Life is full of joys and sorrows.

他喜怒哀乐都写在脸上。

Tā xǐ-nù-āi-lè dōu xiě zài liǎn shàng.

All his emotions show on his face.

Tips

culture

This set of four emotions comes from the Confucian classic《中庸》(Doctrine of the Mean). Interestingly, 喜 and 乐 are both positive emotions but subtly different — 喜 is excited delight (from an event), while 乐 is contentment/pleasure (a state of being).

Stroke Order

喜 xǐ

怒 nù

哀 āi

乐 lè