苦中作乐
kǔ zhōng zuò lè
to find joy in hardship; to make the best of a bad situation
Character by character
苦kǔ
bitter
bitter
中zhōng
in
in
作zuò
make
make
乐lè
joy
joy
Example
疫情期间大家都出不了门，邻居们苦中作乐，在阳台上开起了音乐会。
During the pandemic nobody could go out, so the neighbours made the best of it and held concerts on their balconies.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
Admiring, and often wry about oneself: 只能苦中作乐了, we’ll just have to make the best of it. 苏轼 in 黄州 is the model: a ruined field became a farm, and a soaking became a song.
Learn this in Lesson 92 · HSK 6–7: 苏东坡的宋朝 (Su Dongpo’s Song dynasty)
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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