📖 Meaning
Time passes like flowing water, never to return. It describes the fleeting and irreversible nature of the passage of time. The idiom conveys a sense of nostalgia and the inevitability of aging.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from 'The Peony Pavilion' (《牡丹亭》), a famous play by the Ming dynasty dramatist Tang Xianzu (汤显祖). In the tenth scene, the line reads, 'For you, a beautiful companion like a flower, and years that flow away like water.' The phrase poetically laments the transient beauty of youth and the relentless passage of time, themes central to the play's exploration of love and mortality.
💡 Example Usage
回首往事，似水流年，青春岁月一去不复返。
Looking back on the past, time flows away like water, and the years of youth are gone forever.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 似水流年
- Pinyin: sì shuǐ liú nián
- Literal Translation: like, water, flowing, years
- Category: Philosophy
- Characters: 4