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樂極生悲

简乐极生悲 · 繁樂極生悲

Mandarin · pinyin lè jí shēng bēi

extreme joy turns to sorrow (idiom); Don't celebrate too soon, things could still go wrong!

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Characters in this entry

樂: lè · happy, glad; enjoyable; music
極: Look up this written character
生: shēng · life, living, lifetime; birth
悲: bēi · sorrow, grief; sorry, sad
乐: lè · happy, glad; enjoyable; music
极: jí · extreme, utmost, furthest, final

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

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Mandarin tones

4–2–1–1 · le4 ji2 sheng1 bei1

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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.

樂極生悲 · find source passages ↗ · 乐极生悲 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

lok6 gik6 sang1 bei1

Cantonese word readings for 樂極生悲. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) a joyful situation turns sorrowful at its climax

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

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