📖 Meaning
This idiom means "for thousands of ages and ten thousand generations," equivalent to 千秋万代. It emphasizes the extreme longevity and eternity of time, often used to describe something that lasts forever.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from a poem by the Tang dynasty poet Lu Zhaolin (卢照邻), one of the "Four Eminences of Early Tang" (初唐四杰). In his poem "Huai Xian Yin" (《怀仙引》), he wrote the line "天长地久时相忆，千龄万代一来游," expressing a longing for immortals and the hope that across vast ages, friends might still meet to wander together. The phrase was later adopted as a set idiom denoting eternity.
💡 Example Usage
古人的智慧结晶将流传千龄万代。
The crystallized wisdom of the ancients will be passed down for thousands of generations.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 千龄万代
- Pinyin: qiān líng wàn dài
- Literal Translation: thousand, age, ten thousand, generation
- Category: Philosophy
- Characters: 4