日薄西山

Chinese

		day; sun; date day; sun; date; day of the month; Japan (abbrev.)	to approach	west	mountain; hill
trad. (日薄西山)		日	薄	西	山
simp. #(日薄西山)		日	薄	西	山
Literally: “sun approaches the western mountains”.

Etymology

From Li Mi's 陳情表:

但以劉日薄西山，氣息奄奄，人命危淺，朝不慮夕。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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但以刘日薄西山，气息奄奄，人命危浅，朝不虑夕。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: 3rd century, Li Mi (李密), 陳情表

Dàn yǐ Liú rìbóxīshān, qìxī yǎnyǎn, rénmìng wēiqiǎn, cháobùlǜxī. [Pinyin]

(please add an English translation of this usage example)

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): rìbóxīshān

  (Zhuyin): ㄖˋ ㄅㄛˊ ㄒㄧ ㄕㄢ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jat⁶ bok⁶ sai¹ saan¹, jat⁶ bik¹ sai¹ saan¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: rìbóxīshān
    • Zhuyin: ㄖˋ ㄅㄛˊ ㄒㄧ ㄕㄢ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: rìhbósishan
    • Wade–Giles: jih⁴-po²-hsi¹-shan¹
    • Yale: r̀-bwó-syī-shān
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ryhborshishan
    • Palladius: жибосишань (žibosišanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʐ̩⁵¹ pu̯ɔ³⁵ ɕi⁵⁵ ʂän⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jat⁶ bok⁶ sai¹ saan¹, jat⁶ bik¹ sai¹ saan¹
    • Yale: yaht bohk sāi sāan, yaht bīk sāi sāan
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jat⁹ bok⁹ sai¹ saan¹, jat⁹ bik⁷ sai¹ saan¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: yed⁶ bog⁶ sei¹ san¹, yed⁶ big¹ sei¹ san¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐt̚² pɔːk̚² sɐi̯⁵⁵ saːn⁵⁵/, /jɐt̚² pɪk̚⁵ sɐi̯⁵⁵ saːn⁵⁵/

Idiom

日薄西山

1. (of an old person) to be close to death
2. (of something) to be declining and near its end