白髮人送黑髮人

Chinese

		white hair; elderly; senior	man; person; people	to deliver; to carry; to give (as a present) to deliver; to carry; to give (as a present); to present (with); to see off; to send	black hair	man; person; people
trad. (白髮人送黑髮人)		白髮	人	送	黑髮	人
simp. (白发人送黑发人)		白发	人	送	黑发	人
Literally: “white-haired person seeing off black-haired person (in a funeral)”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): báifàrén sòng hēifàrén, báifǎrén sòng hēifǎrén

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄞˊ ㄈㄚˋ ㄖㄣˊ ㄙㄨㄥˋ ㄏㄟ ㄈㄚˋ ㄖㄣˊ, ㄅㄞˊ ㄈㄚˇ ㄖㄣˊ ㄙㄨㄥˋ ㄏㄟ ㄈㄚˇ ㄖㄣˊ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Mainland)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: báifàrén sòng hēifàrén
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄞˊ ㄈㄚˋ ㄖㄣˊ ㄙㄨㄥˋ ㄏㄟ ㄈㄚˋ ㄖㄣˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: báifàrén sòng heifàrén
    • Wade–Giles: pai²-fa⁴-jên² sung⁴ hei¹-fa⁴-jên²
    • Yale: bái-fà-rén sùng hēi-fà-rén
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bairfahren sonq heifahren
    • Palladius: байфажэнь сун хэйфажэнь (bajfažɛnʹ sun xɛjfažɛnʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /paɪ̯³⁵ fä⁵¹ ʐən³⁵ sʊŋ⁵¹ xeɪ̯⁵⁵ fä⁵¹ ʐən³⁵/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, Taiwan)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: báifǎrén sòng hēifǎrén
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄞˊ ㄈㄚˇ ㄖㄣˊ ㄙㄨㄥˋ ㄏㄟ ㄈㄚˇ ㄖㄣˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: báifǎrén sòng heifǎrén
    • Wade–Giles: pai²-fa³-jên² sung⁴ hei¹-fa³-jên²
    • Yale: bái-fǎ-rén sùng hēi-fǎ-rén
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bairfaaren sonq heifaaren
    • Palladius: байфажэнь сун хэйфажэнь (bajfažɛnʹ sun xɛjfažɛnʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /paɪ̯³⁵ fä²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʐən³⁵ sʊŋ⁵¹ xeɪ̯⁵⁵ fä²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʐən³⁵/

Phrase

白髮人送黑髮人

1. (of an old person) to see one's child die earlier than oneself

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 白髮人送黑髮人 (“(of an old person) to see one's child die earlier than oneself”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		白髮人送黑髮人
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	白髮人送黑髮人
Cantonese	Hong Kong	白頭人送黑頭人