垂死病中惊坐起

垂死病中驚坐起

chuísǐbìngzhōngjīngzuòqǐ

phrase

Meanings

1 in the grip of mortal illness, startled, I bolt upright
2 (fig.) a shock violent enough to pull even a dying man out of bed
3 (lit.) on-the-brink-of-death within illness, startled sat-up

Characters

to hang / approach

death (垂死 = on death's door)

in (病中 = in the midst of illness)

to rise (坐起 = sit up)

Examples

听到公司倒闭的消息，他垂死病中惊坐起。

Tīngdào gōngsī dǎobì de xiāoxi, tā chuísǐ bìngzhōng jīng zuò qǐ.

Hearing the news that the company had gone bust, he 'bolted up from his deathbed, stunned.'

网上流行用垂死病中惊坐起来形容被突发新闻震惊。

Wǎngshàng liúxíng yòng chuísǐ bìng zhōng jīng zuò qǐ lái xíngróng bèi tūfā xīnwén zhènjīng.

Online it's popular to use 'bolt up from the deathbed' to describe being shocked by breaking news.

Tips

history

From 元稹《闻乐天授江州司马》(Yuan Zhen, Tang, 815), written when Yuan heard his closest friend 白居易 (Bai Juyi) had been demoted to Jiangzhou: 残灯无焰影幢幢，此夕闻君谪九江。垂死病中惊坐起，暗风吹雨入寒窗 (A dying lamp, flameless, shadows swaying; tonight I heard you were banished to Jiujiang. In the grip of mortal illness, I bolted up in shock — a dark wind blew rain through the cold window). Yuan was himself gravely ill when he received the news.

usage

Now internet-meme-famous: often quoted alone as a reaction to shocking news (the 垂死病中惊坐起 meme). Classical register when quoted as part of the poem; purely humorous when used alone online. 垂死 = on the brink of death.

In Pop Culture

网络热梗 wǎngluò rè gěng

popular internet meme

Used as an exaggerated reaction to shocking news on Weibo / Bilibili, often ironically

Stroke Order

垂 chuí

死 sǐ

病 bìng

中 zhōng

惊 jīng

坐 zuò

起 qǐ