千古流芳
qiān gǔ liú fāng
to leave a good name for all time
Character by character
千qiān
thousand
thousand
古gǔ
ages
ages
流liú
spread
spread
芳fāng
fragrance
fragrance
Example
文天祥宁死不降，千古流芳。
Wen Tianxiang chose death rather than surrender, and his name will be honoured for all time.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
Also 流芳千古 or 流芳百世; the opposite is 遗臭万年 (to stink for ten thousand years). It suits national heroes and great historical figures; in an ordinary family’s eulogy it sounds overblown, which is the reading’s point.
Learn this in Lesson 256 · HSK 9+: 悼词 (The eulogy)
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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