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

Etymology

From the Classic of Poetry, poem 1 (《詩經·周南·關雎》):

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

Qiú zhī bù dé, wùmèi sīfú.
Yōuzāi yōuzāi, zhǎnzhuǎn fǎncè. [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): jau⁴ 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–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jau⁴ zoi¹ jau⁴ zoi¹
    • Yale: yàuh jōi yàuh jōi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jau⁴ dzoi¹ jau⁴ dzoi¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: yeo⁴ zoi¹ yeo⁴ zoi¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐu̯²¹ t͡sɔːi̯⁵⁵ jɐu̯²¹ t͡sɔːi̯⁵⁵/

Idiom

悠哉悠哉

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