奔流到海不复回

奔流到海不復回

bēn liú dào hǎi bù fù huí

quotation

Meanings

1 rushes to the sea and returns no more
2 irreversible forward flow, of water, time, or youth
3 rush-flow reach sea not again return

Characters

to rush / gallop

to arrive at / reach

Examples

HSK 4

时间像江水，奔流到海不复回。

Shíjiān xiàng jiāngshuǐ, bēnliúdàohǎibùfùhuí.

Time is like a river's water - 'rushing to the sea, it returns no more.'

HSK 7-9

青春奔流到海不复回，趁早追梦吧。

Qīngchūn bēnliúdàohǎibùfùhuí, chènzǎo zhuī mèng ba.

Youth 'rushes to the sea and returns no more' - chase your dreams while you can.

Tips

history

From the opening of 李白《将进酒》 (Bring in the Wine, mid-8th c., Tang): 君不见黄河之水天上来，奔流到海不复回 (Do you not see? The waters of the Yellow River come down from heaven, rush to the sea, and return no more). The greatest drinking-song in Chinese poetry and one of Li Bai's supreme performances. The opening couplet links cosmic river-flow to personal mortality.

usage

Always recited with the opening 黄河之水天上来. 复 here is fù 'again,' not used adjectivally. 不复回 is a classical way of saying 'never returns.'

Stroke Order

奔 bēn

流 liú

到 dào

海 hǎi

不 bù

复 fù

回 huí