哀鴻遍野

See also: 哀鸿遍野

Chinese

	victims of a disaster	to blanket the countryside
trad. (哀鴻遍野)	哀鴻	遍野
simp. (哀鸿遍野)	哀鸿	遍野
Literally: “plaintive whine of geese”.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): āihóngbiànyě

(Zhuyin): ㄞㄏㄨㄥˊ ㄅㄧㄢˋ ㄧㄝˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): oi¹ hung⁴ pin³ je⁵
Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): ai¹ hong⁵ biang³ ia²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: āihóngbiànyě
  - Zhuyin: ㄞㄏㄨㄥˊ ㄅㄧㄢˋ ㄧㄝˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: aihóngbiànyě
  - Wade–Giles: ai¹-hung²-pien⁴-yeh³
  - Yale: āi-húng-byàn-yě
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: aihorngbiannyee
  - Palladius: айхунбянье (ajxunbjanʹje)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀaɪ̯⁵⁵ xʊŋ³⁵ pi̯ɛn⁵¹ jɛ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: oi¹ hung⁴ pin³ je⁵
  - Yale: ōi hùhng pin yéh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: oi¹ hung⁴ pin³ je⁵
  - Guangdong Romanization: oi¹ hung⁴ pin³ yé⁵
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɔːi̯⁵⁵ hʊŋ²¹ pʰiːn³³ jɛː¹³/
Southern Min
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: ai¹ hong⁵ biang³ ia²
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: ai hông piàng iá
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ai³³⁻²³ hoŋ⁵⁵⁻¹¹ piaŋ²¹³⁻⁵⁵ ia⁵²⁻²¹/

Idiom

哀鴻遍野

a land of wailing and despair; land swarming with disaster victims; disaster victims moaning everywhere
- 姮娥不恨聽風雨，恨哀鴻遍野痍傷。 [Ci, trad.]
  姮娥不恨听风雨，恨哀鸿遍野痍伤。 [Ci, simp.]
  From: 1946~1949, 陳璧君 (Chen Bijun),《高陽台·中秋卻寄諸兒》
  Héng'é bùhèn tīng fēngyǔ, hèn āihóngbiànyě yíshāng. [Pinyin]
  Chang'e does not resent enduring storms and winds,
  She laments the suffering people and wounds of devastation across the land.

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (哀鴻遍野):

→ Japanese: 哀鴻遍野(あいこうへんや) (aikōhen'ya)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
哀	鴻	遍	野
あい Grade: S	こう Jinmeiyō	へん Grade: S	や Grade: 2
on'yomi

Etymology

Yojijukugo (四字熟語) derived from some form of Chinese 哀鴻遍野 / 哀鸿遍野 (āihóngbiànyě). This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Compound of 哀鴻(あいこう) (aikō, “wailing wild geese”) + 遍野(へんや) (hen'ya, “all across the fields”), metaphorically extended to refugees, defeated soldiers etc. wandering the lands in misery.

Idiom

哀(あい)鴻(こう)遍(へん)野(や) • (aikō hen'ya) (literary)

a land of wailing and despair; land swarming with disaster victims; disaster victims moaning everywhere

Synonyms

哀鴻(あいこう)野(の)に遍(あまね)し (aikō no ni amaneshi)
哀鴻遍地(あいこうへんち) (aikōhenchi)
鴻雁哀鳴(こうがんあいめい) (kōgan'aimei)

References

“哀鴻遍野”, in 漢検四字熟語辞典 (Kanken Yojijukugo Jiten, “Kanji Kentei Four-Character-Idiom Dictionary”) (in Japanese), second edition, Tōkyō: Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2012, →ISBN, page 61