生不逢辰

Chinese

		to be born; to give birth; life to be born; to give birth; life; to grow; student; raw	not; no	every time; meet by chance	5th earthly branch; 7–9 a.m.
trad. (生不逢辰)		生	不	逢	辰
simp. #(生不逢辰)		生	不	逢	辰
Literally: “to be born at the wrong time”.

Etymology

From the Classic of Poetry, poem 257 (《詩經·大雅·桑柔》):

憂心慇慇、念我土宇。
我生不辰，逢天僤怒。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]

---

忧心殷殷、念我土宇。
我生不辰，逢天𫢸怒。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Yōu xīn yīnyīn, niàn wǒ tǔyǔ.
Wǒ shēng bù chén, féng tiān dàn nù. [Pinyin]

The grief of my heart is extreme, And I dwell on [the condition of] our territory.
I was born at an unhappy time, to meet with the severe anger of Heaven.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shēngbùféngchén

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄥ ㄅㄨˋ ㄈㄥˊ ㄔㄣˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sang¹ bat¹ fung⁴ san⁴

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shēngbùféngchén
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄥ ㄅㄨˋ ㄈㄥˊ ㄔㄣˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shengbùfóngchén
    • Wade–Giles: shêng¹-pu⁴-fêng²-chʻên²
    • Yale: shēng-bù-féng-chén
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shengbuferngchern
    • Palladius: шэнбуфэнчэнь (šɛnbufɛnčɛnʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂɤŋ⁵⁵ pu⁵¹ fɤŋ³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰən³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: sang¹ bat¹ fung⁴ san⁴
    • Yale: sāng bāt fùhng sàhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sang¹ bat⁷ fung⁴ san⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: seng¹ bed¹ fung⁴ sen⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɐŋ⁵⁵ pɐt̚⁵ fʊŋ²¹ sɐn²¹/

Idiom

生不逢辰

1. to have a rough and ill-fated life

Synonyms

• 生不逢時／生不逢时 (shēngbùféngshí)