白驹过隙

白駒過隙
báijūguòxì
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 a white colt flashing past a crack
  2. 2 how fleetingly time passes
  3. 3 life is brief as a glimpse through a gap

Examples

Rénshēng rú bái jū guò xì, zhuǎnshùn jí shì.
Life is like a white colt flashing past a crack — gone in an instant.
Sānshí nián bái jū guò xì, dāngnián de shàonián yǐ liǎng bìn bānbái.
Thirty years vanished in a flash; that youth's temples are now gray.
Shíjiān bái jū guò xì, bùróng xūdù.
Time flashes by like a white colt — it mustn't be wasted.

Tips

history
From 《庄子·》: 人生天地之间忽然而已 — 'a person's life between heaven and earth is like a white colt leaping past a crack; it is simply over.' Zhuangzi's view of mortality captured in one image.

Stroke Order

bái
guò