







生荣死哀 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to be honored and respected while alive, and deeply mourned and lamented when dead; used to praise a revered deceased person”. Literally, “Honored in life, mourned in death”.
During the Spring and Autumn period, Chen Ziqin intentionally disparaged Confucius, claiming Zigong surpassed him.
Zigong replied, "Master Confucius's words are appropriate and incomparable. When his virtues are applied to governing a country, he guides the people and brings them peace. Therefore, while Master Confucius was alive, no one did not feel honored by him, and when he passed away, no one did not mourn him."

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Open the tool →生荣死哀 (shēng róng sǐ āi) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to be honored and respected while alive, and deeply mourned and lamented when dead; used to praise a revered deceased person”.
生荣死哀 is pronounced shēng róng sǐ āi in Mandarin Chinese.
Literally, 生荣死哀 means “Honored in life, mourned in death”. It is used to mean “to be honored and respected while alive, and deeply mourned and lamented when dead; used to praise a revered deceased person”.
生荣死哀 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
活着受人尊敬,死了使人哀痛。用以赞誉受人崇敬的死者。