📖 Meaning
When joy reaches its peak, sorrow will follow. It describes the natural turning point where extreme happiness gives way to grief, reflecting the classical Chinese principle that all things reverse at their zenith.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase first appears in the Song dynasty text Yunji Qiqian (云笈七签), compiled by Zhang Junfang. Drawing on Daoist cosmology, the passage observes that just as the sun shifts at noon and the moon wanes when full, so too does joy turn to sorrow at its height. The text frames this as part of the universal pattern of rise and fall governing heaven, earth, and human life.
💡 Example Usage
他刚中了大奖，乐极悲来，当晚就出了车祸住院了。
He had just won the grand prize, but joy turned to sorrow—he was hospitalized in a car accident that very night.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 乐极悲来
- Pinyin: lè jí bēi lái
- Literal Translation: joy, extreme, sorrow, come
- Category: Philosophy
- Characters: 4