諺語 · a single proverb
少年不識愁滋味
What does 少年不識愁滋味 (shào nián bù shí chóu zī wèi) mean?
少年不識愁滋味 (shào nián bù shí chóu zī wèi) is a line of classical verse (shīcí 詩詞). Word for word it reads "young person does not recognize the taste of sorrow." In use it means: Youth doesn't know the full weight of life's sorrows; experience brings true understanding. 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 Goat.
Literally: "young person does not recognize the taste of sorrow."
The reading
The young person's sadness is real but has not yet been aged by the knowledge of what will follow. The older sorrow is flavored by everything that came before it, and the comparison changes the texture. This is not a loss but an accumulation: what youth has in freshness, experience has in depth, and both are forms of something genuine.
What kind of proverb it is
Source Xin Qiji 辛棄疾·《醜奴兒》 (Chǒu Nú Ér, Song Dynasty ci poem)
Sits beside
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 Nature, Seasons & Health, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Goat, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Rabbit.
Questions
Is 少年不識愁滋味 a real Chinese proverb?
Yes. 少年不識愁滋味 (shào nián bù shí chóu zī wèi) is a line of classical verse (shīcí 詩詞), and it comes from Xin Qiji 辛棄疾·《醜奴兒》 (Chǒu Nú Ér, Song Dynasty ci poem). 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 少年不識愁滋味?
In Mandarin it is shào nián bù shí chóu zī wèi. Read the pinyin above each character to follow the tones, or press the speaker beside the calligraphy to hear your browser read 少年不識愁滋味 aloud in Mandarin.