諺語 · a single proverb
逝者如斯夫，不捨晝夜
Simplified: 逝者如斯夫，不舍昼夜
What does 逝者如斯夫，不捨晝夜 (shì zhě rú sī fū bù shě zhòu yè) mean?
逝者如斯夫，不捨晝夜 (shì zhě rú sī fū bù shě zhòu yè) is a line of classical verse (shīcí 詩詞). Word for word it reads "that which passes is like this, not stopping day or night." In use it means: Time flows like a river, never stopping day or night; the constant passing of all things. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Water note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Dragon.
Literally: "that which passes is like this, not stopping day or night."
The reading
Confucius stood at the river's edge and watched the water moving without pause and said: it is like this. He did not say how we should feel about the passing; he only named it plainly. The naming itself was the teaching: what is here now will be past before the sentence finishes. This is not cause for grief but for presence.
What kind of proverb it is
Source Analects of Confucius 論語·子罕 (Zǐ Hǎn IX)
Sits beside
上善若水
shàng shàn ruò shuǐ
The finest virtue is like water, which benefits all things and flows to the low places without contending.
天下之至柔，馳騁天下之至堅
tiān xià zhī zhì róu chí chěng tiān xià zhī zhì jiān
The most yielding force in the world overcomes the most unyielding.
心如止水
xīn rú zhǐ shuǐ
A heart as still and clear as motionless water.
Keep reading
Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in The Way of Water, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Dragon, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.
Questions
Is 逝者如斯夫，不捨晝夜 a real Chinese proverb?
Yes. 逝者如斯夫，不捨晝夜 (shì zhě rú sī fū bù shě zhòu yè) is a line of classical verse (shīcí 詩詞), and it comes from Analects of Confucius 論語·子罕 (Zǐ Hǎn IX). It is living Chinese heritage, given here with per-character pinyin and its source so you can trust the line, not a phrase invented in English.
How do you pronounce 逝者如斯夫，不捨晝夜?
In Mandarin it is shì zhě rú sī fū bù shě zhòu yè. Read the pinyin above each character to follow the tones, or press the speaker beside the calligraphy to hear your browser read 逝者如斯夫，不捨晝夜 aloud in Mandarin.