一去不復返

Chinese

		one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)	to go; to leave; to remove	not; no	to return; to come back
trad. (一去不復返)		一	去	不	復返
simp. (一去不复返)		一	去	不	复返

Etymology

From the following song attributed to Jing Ke in 《史記·刺客列傳》 (Records of the Grand Historian: Biographies of Assassins).

風蕭蕭兮易水寒，壯士一去兮不復還！ [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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风萧萧兮易水寒，壮士一去兮不复还！ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE

Fēng xiāoxiāo xī Yìshuǐ hán, zhuàngshì yī qù xī bù fùhuán! [Pinyin]

Bleakly and weakly the wind blows; cold the Yi river flows. The valiant man, once gone, never comes back.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yīqùbùfùfǎn

  (Zhuyin): ㄧ ㄑㄩˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄈㄨˋ ㄈㄢˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jat¹ heoi³ bat¹ fuk⁶ faan²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yīqùbùfùfǎn [Phonetic: yíqùbúfùfǎn]
    • Zhuyin: ㄧ ㄑㄩˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄈㄨˋ ㄈㄢˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yicyùbùfùfǎn
    • Wade–Giles: i¹-chʻü⁴-pu⁴-fu⁴-fan³
    • Yale: yī-chyù-bù-fù-fǎn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ichiuhbufuhfaan
    • Palladius: ицюйбуфуфань (icjujbufufanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /i⁵⁵⁻³⁵ t͡ɕʰy⁵¹ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ fu⁵¹ fän²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jat¹ heoi³ bat¹ fuk⁶ faan²
    • Yale: yāt heui bāt fuhk fáan
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jat⁷ hoey³ bat⁷ fuk⁹ faan²
    • Guangdong Romanization: yed¹ hêu³ bed¹ fug⁶ fan²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐt̚⁵ hɵy̯³³ pɐt̚⁵ fʊk̚² faːn³⁵/

Idiom

一去不復返

1. gone forever; gone never to return

   • 黃鶴一去不復返，白雲千載空悠悠。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     黄鹤一去不复返，白云千载空悠悠。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: 8th century CE, 崔顥 (Cui Hao), 黃鶴樓 (Huánghèlóu) "Yellow Crane Tower"

     Huánghè yīqùbùfùfǎn, báiyún qiānzǎi kōng yōuyōu. [Pinyin]

     The yellow crane, once gone, never comes back; the white clouds, for one thousand years, drift aloft carefreely.

   • 人民所厭惡的國家分裂和混亂的局面，已經一去不復返了。 [MSC, trad.]
     人民所厌恶的国家分裂和混乱的局面，已经一去不复返了。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1957, 毛澤東 (Mao Zedong), 《關於正確處理人民內部矛盾的問題》 (On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People), 《毛澤東選集》. English translation based on the Foreign Languages Press edition

     Rénmín suǒ yàn'è de guójiā fēnliè hé hùnluàn de júmiàn, yǐjīng yīqùbùfùfǎn le. [Pinyin]

     The days of national disunity and chaos which the people detested are gone, never to return.

Synonyms

• 一去不返 (yīqùbùfǎn)

Descendants

• → Vietnamese: một đi không trở lại (calque)