紅顏

Chinese

		red; revolutionary; prosperity red; revolutionary; prosperity; bonus; popular	colour; countenance; face
trad. (紅顏)		紅	顏
simp. (红颜)		红	颜

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): hóngyán

  (Zhuyin): ㄏㄨㄥˊ ㄧㄢˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): hung⁴ ngaan⁴
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): hông-gân

  (Teochew, Peng'im): ang⁵ nguang⁵

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: hóngyán
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄨㄥˊ ㄧㄢˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: hóngyán
    • Wade–Giles: hung²-yen²
    • Yale: húng-yán
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: horngyan
    • Palladius: хунъянь (xunʺjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /xʊŋ³⁵ jɛn³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: hung⁴ ngaan⁴
    • Yale: hùhng ngàahn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: hung⁴ ngaan⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: hung⁴ ngan⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hʊŋ²¹ ŋaːn²¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hông-gân
    • Tâi-lô: hông-gân
    • Phofsit Daibuun: honggaan
    • IPA (Xiamen): /hɔŋ²⁴⁻²² ɡan²⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /hɔŋ²⁴⁻²² ɡan²⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /hɔŋ¹³⁻²² ɡan¹³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /hɔŋ²⁴⁻¹¹ ɡan²⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /hɔŋ²³⁻³³ ɡan²³/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: ang⁵ nguang⁵
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: âng nguâng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /aŋ⁵⁵⁻¹¹ ŋuaŋ⁵⁵/

Noun

紅顏

1. (literary) pretty face; rosy complexion
2. (literary, figurative) beautiful woman

   • 慟哭六軍俱縞素，衝冠一怒為紅顏。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     恸哭六军俱缟素，冲冠一怒为红颜。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: c. 17th Century, Wu Weiye, Song of Yuanyuan (圓圓曲)

     Tòngkū liù jūn jù gǎosù, chōng guàn yī nù wèi hóngyán. [Pinyin]

     The six armies, wailing and grieving, were uniformly clad in the white of mourning,
     One wave of headgear-lifting anger propelled him, all for the sake of the fair-faced one (referring to Chen Yuanyuan, Wu Sangui's wife).

3. (literary, figurative) youth

Synonyms

• (beautiful woman):

edit

• 佳人 (jiārén)
• 佳麗／佳丽 (jiālì) (literary)
• 出水芙蓉 (chūshuǐfúróng) (figurative)
• 嫭 (hù) (literary)
• 嬌／娇 (jiāo)
• 美人 (měirén)
• 美女 (měinǚ)
• 行雨 (xíngyǔ) (literary, figurative)
• 靚女／靓女 (chiefly Cantonese)
• 麗人／丽人 (lìrén) (literary)

 

Dialectal synonyms of 美女 (“beautiful woman”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		美女, 美人, 佳人, 佳麗, 麗人, 紅顏, 嬋娟
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		美女, 美人, 佳人
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	美人兒
	Taiwan	美女
	Singapore	美女
Cantonese	Guangzhou	靚女
	Hong Kong	靚女
	Taishan	靚女
	Kaiping (Chikan)	靚女
	Dongguan	靚女
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	靚女
	Singapore (Guangfu)	靚女
Hakka	Meixian	標緻妹仔, 靚妹仔, 靚女
	Huizhou (Huicheng; Bendihua)	靚女
Southern Min	Xiamen	媠查某
	Xiamen (Tong'an)	媠查某
	Quanzhou	媠查某
	Anxi	媠查某
	Zhangzhou	媠查某
	Zhao'an	媠查某
	Singapore (Hokkien)	媠查某, 俏母
	Manila (Hokkien)	媠查某
	Shantou	雅諸娘
	Jieyang	雅諸娘, 雅儂
	Leizhou	顯娘
	Wenchang	靚母
	Singapore (Hainanese)	靚母
Zhongshan Min	Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi)	靚妹

Derived terms

• 白髮紅顏／白发红颜 (báifǎ hóngyán)
• 紅顏命薄／红颜命薄
• 紅顏禍水／红颜祸水 (hóngyánhuòshuǐ)
• 紅顏薄命／红颜薄命 (hóngyánbómìng)
• 自古紅顏多薄命／自古红颜多薄命 (zìgǔ hóngyán duō bómìng)