人生識字憂患始

Chinese
life
 
to know characters; to learn to read; to know how to read
to know characters; to learn to read; to know how to read; to be literate
 suffering; hardship; misery begin
trad. (人生識字憂患始) 人生 識字 憂患 始
simp. (人生识字忧患始) 人生 识字 忧患 始

Etymology

From 石蒼舒醉墨堂 by Su Shi (蘇軾):

人生識字憂患始，姓名粗記可以休。何用草書誇神速，開卷戃怳令人愁。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
人生识字忧患始，姓名粗记可以休。何用草书夸神速，开卷𰑿怳令人愁。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
Rénshēng shízì yōuhuàn shǐ, xìngmíng cū jì kěyǐ xiū. Hé yòng cǎoshū kuā shénsù, kāijuǎn chǎnghuǎng lìngrén chóu. [Pinyin]
Misery of life starts at literacy. Knowing roughly the name is more than necessary. Why bother using cursive calligraphy to flaunt swiftness? I opened a book, whose incomprehensibility brings me sadness.

Note that Su Shi is actually a famous scholar-official as well as a calligrapher. This poem was written for Shi Cangshu (石蒼舒) who shared the same interest in calligraphy with Su Shi and exceedingly appreciated Su Shi's calligraphy.

Pronunciation

  • Mandarin
    (Pinyin): rénshēng shízì yōuhuàn shǐ, rénshēng shìzì yōuhuàn shǐ
    (Zhuyin): ㄖㄣˊ ㄕㄥ ㄕˊ ㄗˋ ㄧㄡ ㄏㄨㄢˋ ㄕˇ, ㄖㄣˊ ㄕㄥ ㄕˋ ㄗˋ ㄧㄡ ㄏㄨㄢˋ ㄕˇ
  • Cantonese (Jyutping): jan4 sang1 sik1 zi6 jau1 waan6 ci2

Idiom

人生識字憂患始

  1. misery of life starts at literacy; ignorance is bliss

Descendants
  • → Japanese: 人生字を識るは憂患の始め (jinsei ji o shiru wa yūkan no hajime) (calque)
  • Japanese: 識字憂患 (shikiji yūkan)
  • Korean: 식자우환 (sikjauhwan)

See also
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