栩栩如生
xǔ xǔ rú shēng
lifelike; vivid
Character by character
栩xǔ
vivid
vivid
栩xǔ
vivid
vivid
如rú
as-if
as-if
生shēng
alive
alive
Example
他捏的泥人栩栩如生，连脸上的皱纹都看得清清楚楚。
His clay figures are so lifelike that you can see every wrinkle on their faces.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
栩栩 is the fluttering of the butterfly in Zhuangzi’s dream (lesson 6-26). Used for paintings, statues, carvings and vivid writing. 惟妙惟肖 (lesson 4-19) stresses a close likeness to the original; 栩栩如生 stresses the sense of life.
Learn this in Lesson 236 · HSK 9+: 敦煌 (Dunhuang: the Mogao Caves)
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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