恰同学少年 (qiàtóngxuéshàonián): just as classmates in our youthful years — evoking young friends full of ideals and promise

Meanings

1 just as classmates in our youthful years — evoking young friends full of ideals and promise
2 literally: precisely (when we were) classmates in young-year time

Characters

恰

to study — 同学 = classmate

Examples

回想大学时代，恰同学少年，风华正茂。

Huíxiǎng dàxué shídài, qià tóngxué shàonián, fēnghuá zhèng mào.

Thinking back to college days — just classmates in our youth, in the full bloom of our talent.

这部剧名叫《恰同学少年》，讲的是青年毛泽东的故事。

Zhè bù jù míng jiào "Qià Tóngxué Shàonián", jiǎng de shì qīngnián Máo Zédōng de gùshì.

The TV drama is called 'Just Classmates in Youth' — it tells the story of young Mao Zedong.

Tips

history

From Mao Zedong's 1925 ci 《沁园春·长沙》 (Spring in Qin Garden — Changsha). Opening passage: 恰同学少年，风华正茂；书生意气，挥斥方遒 — 'Just as we were classmates in our youth, in the full flower of our talent; with scholars' zeal, we gave free play to our vigour.' Written at 32, recalling his student days in Changsha and the radical circles that became the Communist movement. 《恰同学少年》 is also the title of a celebrated 2007 CCTV drama.

usage

Paired couplet — quoted with 风华正茂. Nostalgic / inspirational register, used for reunion speeches, alumni pieces, and commemorations of young promise.

usage

少年 here reads shàonián (youth, the early-teens-to-twenties age), not shǎonián.

In Pop Culture

《恰同学少年》 Qià Tóngxué Shàonián

Just Classmates in Youth

2007 CCTV historical drama about the young Mao Zedong and his circle at First Normal School of Hunan in Changsha. Major re-popularisation of the phrase among younger viewers.