nài​hé​tiān

helpless days

  • created sense approved 奈何天 · nài​hé​tiān · helpless days — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    奈何天

    nài​hé​tiān

    helpless days

    (literary) time that one can do nothing about; a period of listlessness or boredom. This phrase was famously used in the Ming dynasty play [[牡丹亭|牡丹亭|mu3 dan1 ting2]] to describe a beautiful day that feels empty because of one's own loneliness or helplessness.

    奈何 (literal) → 奈何 · nài​hé · how 天 (literal) → 天 · tiān · day

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense

  • created sense approved 奈何天 · nài​hé​tiān · Naihe Tian — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    奈何天

    nài​hé​tiān

    Naihe Tian

    (literary) the title of a legendary Qing dynasty play by [[李渔|李漁|li3 yu2]] about a wealthy but ugly man who eventually transforms into a handsome one through acts of kindness.

    奈何 (literal) → 奈何 · nài​hé · how 天 (literal) → 天 · tiān · sky

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense