颠沛流离
diān pèi liú lí
to wander about homeless; to live a life of upheaval and displacement
Character by character
颠diān
stumble
stumble
沛pèi
fall
fall
流liú
drift
drift
离lí
scatter
scatter
Example
战争年代，他们一家颠沛流离，几年里搬了七八次家。
In the war years the family was driven from place to place and moved house seven or eight times in a few years.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
颠沛 comes from the Analects (颠沛必于是), where it means a time of falls and upheaval. Said of people, and sometimes animals or objects, forced from home by war, disaster or poverty: 颠沛流离的生活, 一路颠沛流离. It describes suffering, not wrongdoing.
Learn this in Lesson 166 · HSK 7–9: 麋鹿回家 (The Père David’s deer comes home)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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