妻离子散

妻離子散

qīlí-zǐsàn

idiom

Meanings

1 a family torn apart
2 wives separated and children scattered
3 families wrenched apart (by war, disaster, etc.)

Characters

to leave, to separate

child, children

to scatter, to disperse

Examples

HSK 7-9

战乱让许多家庭妻离子散。

Zhànluàn ràng xǔduō jiātíng qīlí-zǐsàn.

The war scattered many families, separating wives from husbands and children from parents.

HSK 7-9

那场洪水让不少人家妻离子散，家破人亡。

Nà chǎng hóngshuǐ ràng bùshǎo rénjiā qīlí-zǐsàn, jiāpò-rénwáng.

That flood left many families torn apart, homes destroyed and lives lost.

HSK 7-9

他赌博成瘾，最终落得妻离子散的下场。

Tā dǔbó chéngyǐn, zuìzhōng luòde qīlí-zǐsàn de xiàchǎng.

His gambling addiction ultimately left him with a broken and scattered family.

Tips

history

Rooted in Mencius (《孟子·梁惠王上》): 父母冻饿，兄弟妻子离散 - describing the suffering of the people under tyrannical rule. The idiom distilled from this passage became a standard image of catastrophic social collapse.

usage

Strong emotional weight - reserve for serious contexts like war, disaster, or ruin. Often paired with 家破人亡 (home destroyed, people dead) for maximum tragic impact.

Stroke Order

妻 qī

离 lí

子 zǐ

散 sàn