家破人亡 (jiā pò rén wáng) — family destroyed, loved ones dead (used of the ultimate tragedy befalling a household)

Definition

A chengyu for the ultimate family tragedy — 'home destroyed, family members dead or scattered.' Used for catastrophic events like war, disaster, or political persecution, not minor misfortune.

idiom
family destroyedloved ones dead (used of the ultimate tragedy befalling a household)

Examples

  • 家破人亡，。
    Zhàn zhēng ràng hěn duō bǎi xìng jiā pò rén wáng, tài bēi cǎn le.
    The war left many ordinary people with their families destroyed and loved ones dead — so tragic.
  • ，家破人亡。
    Yì chǎng dà dì zhèn guò hòu, zhěng gè cūn zhuāng jiā pò rén wáng.
    After the big earthquake, the whole village saw families destroyed and people killed.
  • ，家破人亡。
    Tā bèi rén xiàn hài, luò de jiā pò rén wáng de xià chǎng.
    He was framed by others and ended up with his family ruined and his relatives dead.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

家破family broken
家jiāfamily破pòbroken
主谓Subject + predicate
人亡people dead
人rénperson亡wángdead
主谓Subject + predicate

家破 (family broken) and 人亡 (people dead) picture a household destroyed.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
石石shí
Sound part声符shēngfú
皮
皮pí破pò
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

破 has 石 (stone) as its meaning part and 皮 as its sound part.

Open 破 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

The shape originally marked a knife's cutting edge with a line.

Open 亡 →

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