靡靡之音
mǐ mǐ zhī yīn
decadent, enervating music
Character by character
靡mǐ
languid
languid
靡mǐ
languid
languid
之zhī
of
of
音yīn
sound
sound
Example
有人把年轻人爱听的情歌一概说成靡靡之音，其实并不公平。
Some people dismiss every love song young people like as decadent music, which is hardly fair.
Tone: negative (criticism).
Usage and origin
Goes back to the 靡靡之乐 that 《韩非子》 and 《史记》 say was made for the tyrant 纣王 (Zhòu Wáng), whose dynasty fell; hence soft, sentimental music said to sap the will. A label in the campaigns against pop music in the early 1980s, now often quoted with irony.
Learn this in Lesson 243 · HSK 9+: 从周璇到邓丽君 (From Zhou Xuan to Teresa Teng)
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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