前度劉郎

Chinese

		front, forepart; in front; past front, forepart; in front; past; former; previous; last; before; preceding; earlier; ago; future; time ahead; first; top; battlefront; to move forward	capacity; degree; standard	Liu (Chinese surname)	youth
trad. (前度劉郎)		前	度	劉	郎
simp. (前度刘郎)		前	度	刘	郎

Etymology

From a poem by Liu Yuxi, written when he returned to the capital after 14 years in exile and revisited a peach garden.

百畝庭中半是苔，桃花淨盡菜花開。
種桃道士歸何處，前度劉郎今又來。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

百亩庭中半是苔，桃花净尽菜花开。
种桃道士归何处，前度刘郎今又来。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Liu Yuxi, 《再游玄都觀》, 828 CE

Bǎi mǔ tíng zhōng bàn shì tái, táohuā jìng jìn càihuā kāi.
Zhòng táo dàoshì guī héchù, qián dù Liú láng jīn yòu lái. [Pinyin]

The courtyard of a hundred mu is half-covered with moss, the peach blossoms are gone and only mallow flowers remain.
The priests who planted the peach trees are nowhere to be found, yet that Mr. Liu last time around is now here again!

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): qiándùliúláng

(Zhuyin): ㄑㄧㄢˊ ㄉㄨˋ ㄌㄧㄡˊ ㄌㄤˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): cin⁴ dou⁶ lau⁴ long⁴

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: qiándùliúláng
  - Zhuyin: ㄑㄧㄢˊ ㄉㄨˋ ㄌㄧㄡˊ ㄌㄤˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: ciándùlióuláng
  - Wade–Giles: chʻien²-tu⁴-liu²-lang²
  - Yale: chyán-dù-lyóu-láng
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chyanduhlioulang
  - Palladius: цяньдулюлан (cjanʹduljulan)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn³⁵ tu⁵¹ li̯oʊ̯³⁵ lɑŋ³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: cin⁴ dou⁶ lau⁴ long⁴
  - Yale: chìhn douh làuh lòhng
  - Cantonese Pinyin: tsin⁴ dou⁶ lau⁴ long⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: qin⁴ dou⁶ leo⁴ long⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰiːn²¹ tou̯²² lɐu̯²¹ lɔːŋ²¹/

Idiom

前度劉郎

someone who returns to a place they have once abandoned