Rén gù yǒu yī sǐ, huò zhòngyú Tài Shān, huò qīng yú hóngmáo.

人固有一死, 或重於泰山, 或輕於鴻毛。

Lit [Although] death certainly befalls [all] people [alike], [it may be] weightier than Mount Tai [or] lighter than goose feather.

Fig Some people's deaths are more consequential than others.

Note [Originally from Sima Qian's Bào Rén Ān Shū (or Bào Rén Shàoqin Shū) in the Han dynasty; quoted by Mao Zedong in his essays “Jìniàn Zhāng Sīdé” and “In Memory of Dr. Norman Bethune,” two of the “Three Constantly Read Essays” during the Cultural Revolution; Mount Tai, a large mountain in Shandong province and one of the five sacred mountains, is commonly used as a symbol of great weight or import. Zhòngyútàishān, (lit) “(to be) weightier than Mount Tai”; (fig) “(to be) of greatest significance,” and qīngyú-hóngmáo, (lit) “(to be) lighter than goose feather”; (fig) “without the least significance,” are chengyu.]

Topics Bào Rén Ān Shū Bào Rén Shàoqin Bethune, Norman chengyu COMPARISON Cultural Revolution DEATH In Memory of Dr. Norman Bethune Jìniàn Zhāng Sīdé Mao Zedong Mount Tai qīngyú-hóngmáo Sima Qian Three Constantly Read Essays zhòngyútàishān