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相逢何必曾相识

相逢何必曾相識
xiāngfénghébìcéngxiāngshí
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 to meet — why need we have known each other before?
  2. 2 (fig.) a chance encounter can form instant, genuine connection
  3. 3 (lit.) mutually-meet, what-need previously mutually-acquainted

Examples

旅途中遇见知音，相逢何必曾相识。
Lǚtú zhōng yùjiàn zhīyīn, xiāngféng hébì céng xiāngshí.
Meeting a kindred spirit on the road — 'why must we have known each other before?'
两位作家一见如故，正是相逢何必曾相识。
Liǎng wèi zuòjiā yī jiàn rú gù, zhèng shì xiāngféng hébì céng xiāngshí.
The two writers hit it off instantly — truly 'meeting, why must we have been acquainted before?'

Tips

history
From 白居易《琵琶行》(Bai Juyi, Tang, 816): 同是天涯沦落人，相逢何必曾相识 (We are both fallen wanderers at the world's edge — to meet, why must we have been acquainted before?). Bai, demoted to Jiangzhou, encountered a former Chang'an courtesan playing pipa on a moonlit boat; their shared decline needed no introduction. One of the most quoted couplets in the Chinese canon.
usage
Inseparable from 同是天涯沦落人 (entry 843 is this line; its companion 同是天涯沦落人 is already in the broader dictionary tradition). Used when two strangers form an immediate bond through shared experience. 何必 = why must (rhetorical).

Stroke Order

相 xiāng
逢 féng
何 hé
必 bì
曾 céng
识 shí