尔曹身与名俱灭

爾曹身與名俱滅

ěr cáo shēn yǔ míng jù miè

quotation

Meanings

1 you lot - body and name will vanish together
2 petty critics and their reputations will be forgotten alike
3 you-folk, body, and name, all perish together

Characters

you (classical)

name / reputation

to perish / be extinguished

Examples

HSK 7-9

对那些诋毁先贤的人，杜甫说尔曹身与名俱灭。

Duì nàxiē dǐhuǐ xiānxián de rén, Dù Fǔ shuō ěrcáoshēnyǔmíngjùmiè.

To those who slandered the great figures of old, Du Fu wrote: 'you lot - body and name will vanish together.'

HSK 7-9

历史最终证明，尔曹身与名俱灭，不废江河万古流。

Lìshǐ zuìzhōng zhèngmíng, ěrcáoshēnyǔmíngjùmiè, búfèijiānghéwàngǔliú.

History proves in the end: 'you lot will vanish body and name - but rivers and seas flow on for all ages.'

Tips

history

From 杜甫 (Du Fu, Tang, 762 CE), 《戏为六绝句·其二》, defending the reputation of the early-Tang masters 王杨卢骆 (Wang Bo, Yang Jiong, Lu Zhaolin, Luo Binwang) against contemporary sneers: 尔曹身与名俱灭，不废江河万古流. One of the great rebukes to bad critics in any literature.

usage

尔曹 = classical 'you lot / you people,' a slightly disdainful plural-you. 与 here = 'and', joining 身 and 名. Always canonically answered by 不废江河万古流. A sharp, literary line - use with awareness of its contemptuous register.

Stroke Order

尔 ěr

曹 Cáo

身 shēn

与 yǔ

名 míng

俱 jù

灭 miè