📖 Meaning
恶 means to dislike or hate. The idiom describes loving life and hating death, a sentiment shared by all living beings. It is often used to explain why people or animals cling to survival and shrink from danger.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase appears in chapter 26 of 镜花缘 (Flowers in the Mirror), a Qing dynasty novel by 李汝珍. In the original passage, the narrator reflects on the behavior of living creatures and concludes, 'It can be seen that loving life and hating death is the constant feeling of all things.' The line is cited to show that the instinct to cherish survival is a universal, natural disposition rather than a sign of cowardice.
💡 Example Usage
爱生恶死乃人之常情，谁又能免俗呢。
Loving life and fearing death is human nature — who among us can rise above it?
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 爱生恶死
- Pinyin: ài shēng wù sǐ
- Literal Translation: love, life, hate, death
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4