少年易老學難成

Chinese

		early youth; juvenile; youngster	change; easy; simple	old; aged; venerable old; aged; venerable; outdated; experienced; (affectionate prefix)	learn; study; science learn; study; science; ‑ology	disaster; distress; to scold disaster; distress; to scold; difficult (to...); problem; difficulty; difficult; not good	finish; complete; accomplish finish; complete; accomplish; become; turn into; win; succeed; one tenth
trad. (少年易老學難成)		少年	易	老	學	難	成
simp. (少年易老学难成)		少年	易	老	学	难	成

Etymology

From Zhu Xi's poem 《偶成》:

少年易老學難成，一寸光陰不可輕 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

---

少年易老学难成，一寸光阴不可轻 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

shàonián yì lǎo xué nán chéng, yīcùn guāngyīn bùkě qīng [Pinyin]

It's easy for a youth to become old but hard to accomplish much learning. Every second of the time should not be undervalued.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shàonián yì lǎo xué nán chéng

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄠˋ ㄋㄧㄢˊ ㄧˋ ㄌㄠˇ ㄒㄩㄝˊ ㄋㄢˊ ㄔㄥˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): siu³ nin⁴ ji⁶ lou⁵ hok⁶ naan⁴ sing⁴

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shàonián yì lǎo xué nán chéng
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄠˋ ㄋㄧㄢˊ ㄧˋ ㄌㄠˇ ㄒㄩㄝˊ ㄋㄢˊ ㄔㄥˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shàonián yì lǎo syué nán chéng
    • Wade–Giles: shao⁴-nien² i⁴ lao³ hsüeh² nan² chʻêng²
    • Yale: shàu-nyán yì lǎu sywé nán chéng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shawnian yih lao shyue nan cherng
    • Palladius: шаонянь и лао сюэ нань чэн (šaonjanʹ i lao sjue nanʹ čɛn)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂɑʊ̯⁵¹ ni̯ɛn³⁵ i⁵¹ lɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɕy̯ɛ³⁵ nän³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰɤŋ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: siu³ nin⁴ ji⁶ lou⁵ hok⁶ naan⁴ sing⁴
    • Yale: siu nìhn yih lóuh hohk nàahn sìhng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: siu³ nin⁴ ji⁶ lou⁵ hok⁹ naan⁴ sing⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: xiu³ nin⁴ yi⁶ lou⁵ hog⁶ nan⁴ xing⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siːu̯³³ niːn²¹ jiː²² lou̯¹³ hɔːk̚² naːn²¹ sɪŋ²¹/

Idiom

少年易老學難成

1. if you do not study when you are young, you will grow old quickly without accomplishing much learning

Descendants

• → Japanese: 少年老いやすく学なりがたし (shōnen oiyasuku gaku narigatashi) (calque)