TongTong
Sign in

长生不老 (cháng shēng bù lǎo) — to live forever without aging; immortality

Definition

A literary, four-character idiom meaning 'eternal life without aging,' used in legends, Daoist contexts, and festive well-wishes — far more elevated than plain 永远活着.

idiom
to live forever without agingimmortality

Examples

  • ，长生不老。
    Chuán shuō zhōng, chī le xiān dān jiù néng cháng shēng bù lǎo.
    Legend says that eating an elixir of immortality lets you live forever.
  • ，长生不老！
    Zhù nín shēn tǐ jiàn kāng, cháng shēng bù lǎo!
    Wishing you good health and eternal youth!
  • 长生不老。
    Zhè bù diàn yǐng jiǎng de shì yí gè rén zhuī qiú cháng shēng bù lǎo de gù shi.
    This movie tells the story of a person seeking immortality.

Origin

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 長; 长 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 長 pictures an old man with long hair. The simplified 长 is a later shorthand, so its strokes do not show that original picture.

Open 长 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

生 shows 屮 (a bud) above 一 (the ground), drawing a sprout coming up from the earth.

Open 生 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

The shape 老 combines 人 (man), 毛 (hair), and 匕 (cane), showing a man with long hair leaning on a cane.

Open 老 →
Appears in
Idioms & Set PhrasesMythology & Folklore

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.