悠哉悠哉

悠哉悠哉

Chinese

		leisurely; relaxed; comfortable	leisurely; relaxed; comfortable
trad. (悠哉悠哉)		悠哉	悠哉
simp. #(悠哉悠哉)		悠哉	悠哉
alternative forms		優哉游哉／优哉游哉

Etymology

From the Classic of Poetry:

求之不得、寤寐思服。悠哉悠哉、輾轉反側。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]

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求之不得、寤寐思服。悠哉悠哉、辗转反侧。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Qiúzhībùdé, wùmèi sīfú. Yōuzāiyōuzāi, zhǎnzhuǎnfǎncè. [Pinyin]

He sought her and found her not, and waking and sleeping he thought about her. Long he thought; oh! long and anxiously; on his side, on his back, he turned, and back again.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yōuzāiyōuzāi

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄡ ㄗㄞ ㄧㄡ ㄗㄞ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jau^4-1 zoi¹ jau⁴ zoi¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yōuzāiyōuzāi
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄡ ㄗㄞ ㄧㄡ ㄗㄞ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: youzaiyouzai
    • Wade–Giles: yu¹-tsai¹-yu¹-tsai¹
    • Yale: yōu-dzāi-yōu-dzāi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ioutzaiioutzai
    • Palladius: юцзайюцзай (juczajjuczaj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /joʊ̯⁵⁵ t͡saɪ̯⁵⁵ joʊ̯⁵⁵ t͡saɪ̯⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: jau^4-1 zoi¹ jau⁴ zoi¹
    • Yale: yāu jōi yàuh jōi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jau^4-1 dzoi¹ jau⁴ dzoi¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: yeo^4-1 zoi¹ yeo⁴ zoi¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐu̯²¹⁻⁵⁵ t͡sɔːi̯⁵⁵ jɐu̯²¹ t͡sɔːi̯⁵⁵/

Idiom

悠哉悠哉

1. (literary) extremely longing
2. leisurely and carefree; free and unconstrained