DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

好景不長

简好景不长 · 繁好景不長

Mandarin · pinyin hǎo jǐng bù cháng

a good thing doesn't last forever (idiom)

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

好: hǎo · good, excellent, fine; well
景: jǐng · scenery, view; conditions
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
長: zhǎng · long; length; excel in; leader; Kangxi radical 168
长: zhǎng · long; length; excel in; leader

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

3–3–4–2 · hao3 jing3 bu4 chang2

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

5character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

好景不長 · find source passages ↗ · 好景不长 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hou2 ging2 bat1 coeng4

Cantonese word readings for 好景不長. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) good things do not last forever

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack