睹物思人

dǔ wù sī rén

to see sb’s things and think of them (usually someone dead or far away)

Character by character

睹dǔ
see

物wù
thing

思sī
miss

人rén
person

整理母亲的遗物时，看到那件她织了一半的毛衣，我不禁睹物思人。

Going through my mother’s belongings, I found the sweater she had half finished knitting, and could not help thinking of her.

Tone: neutral.

睹 is literary “to see”, as in 目睹. Used of photos, letters, clothes and rooms left behind; people say 怕睹物思人 to explain why they put such things away.

Learn this in Lesson 253 · HSK 9+: 杨绛《我们仨》 (Yang Jiang’s We Three)

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.