生死

Chinese

	to be born; to give birth; life to be born; to give birth; life; to grow; student; raw	to die; impassable; uncrossable to die; impassable; uncrossable; inflexible; rigid
trad. (生死)	生	死
simp. ^#(生死)	生	死
anagram	死生

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Standard)
(Pinyin): shēngsǐ

(Zhuyin): ㄕㄥㄙˇ

(Chengdu, Sichuanese Pinyin): sen¹ si³
Cantonese (Jyutping): sang¹ sei²
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): sâng-sí
Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): seng¹ so³
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): siⁿ-sí / seⁿ-sí / seng-sú / sng-sír
Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹sen-sy; ¹san-shi

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: shēngsǐ
  - Zhuyin: ㄕㄥㄙˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: shengsǐh
  - Wade–Giles: shêng¹-ssŭ³
  - Yale: shēng-sž
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shengsyy
  - Palladius: шэнсы (šɛnsy)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂɤŋ⁵⁵ sz̩²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
- (Chengdu)
  - Sichuanese Pinyin: sen¹ si³
  - Scuanxua Ladinxua Xin Wenz: sens
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sən⁵⁵ sz̩⁵³/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: sang¹ sei²
  - Yale: sāng séi
  - Cantonese Pinyin: sang¹ sei²
  - Guangdong Romanization: seng¹ séi²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɐŋ⁵⁵ sei̯³⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: sâng-sí
  - Hakka Romanization System: sang^ˊ xi^ˋ
  - Hagfa Pinyim: sang¹ xi³
  - Sinological IPA: /saŋ²⁴ si³¹/
Puxian Min
- (Putian)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: seng¹ so³ [Phonetic: seng⁵ so³]
  - Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: seng-seô
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɬɛŋ⁵³³⁻¹¹ ɬo⁴⁵³/
- (Xianyou)
  - Pouseng Ping'ing: seng¹ so³ [Phonetic: seng⁵ so³]
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɬɛŋ⁵⁴⁴⁻²¹ ɬo³³²/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, Taipei)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: siⁿ-sí
  - Tâi-lô: sinn-sí
  - Phofsit Daibuun: svisie
  - IPA (Xiamen): /sĩ⁴⁴⁻²² si⁵³/
  - IPA (Taipei): /sĩ⁴⁴⁻³³ si⁵³/
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /sĩ³³ si⁵⁵⁴/
- (Hokkien: Zhangzhou, Kaohsiung)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: seⁿ-sí
  - Tâi-lô: senn-sí
  - Phofsit Daibuun: svesie
  - IPA (Zhangzhou): /sɛ̃⁴⁴⁻²² si⁵³/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /sẽ⁴⁴⁻³³ si⁴¹/
- (Hokkien: Xiamen, variant in Taiwan)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: seng-sú
  - Tâi-lô: sing-sú
  - Phofsit Daibuun: sengsuo
  - IPA (Taipei): /siɪŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ su⁵³/
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /siɪŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ su⁴¹/
  - IPA (Xiamen): /siɪŋ⁴⁴⁻²² su⁵³/
- (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: sng-sír
  - Tâi-lô: sng-sír
  - IPA (Quanzhou): /sŋ̍³³ sɯ⁵⁵⁴/
Wu
- (Northern: Shanghai)
  - Wugniu: ¹sen-sy; ¹san-shi
  - MiniDict: sen^平 sy; san^平 shi
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹sen-sr; ¹san-xi
  - Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /sən⁵⁵ sz̩²¹/, /sã⁵⁵ ɕi²¹/

Middle Chinese: sraeng|sraengH sijX

Rime
Character	生	生	死
Reading #	1/2	2/2	1/1
Initial (聲)	生 (21)	生 (21)	心 (16)
Final (韻)	庚 (109)	庚 (109)	脂 (17)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Departing (H)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	II	II	III
Fanqie	所庚切	所敬切	息姊切
Baxter	sraeng	sraengH	sijX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ʃˠæŋ/	/ʃˠæŋ^H/	/sˠiɪ^X/
Pan Wuyun	/ʃᵚaŋ/	/ʃᵚaŋ^H/	/sᵚi^X/
Shao Rongfen	/ʃaŋ/	/ʃaŋ^H/	/siɪ^X/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʂaɨjŋ/	/ʂaɨjŋ^H/	/sji^X/
Li Rong	/ʃɐŋ/	/ʃɐŋ^H/	/sji^X/
Wang Li	/ʃɐŋ/	/ʃɐŋ^H/	/si^X/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ʂɐŋ/	/ʂɐŋ^H/	/si^X/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	shēng	shèng	sǐ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	sang¹	sang³	si²

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*sreŋ|sreŋ sijʔ/

(Zhengzhang): /*sʰleːŋ|sreŋs hljiʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	生	生	死
Reading #	1/3	3/3	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	shēng	shēng	sǐ
Middle Chinese	‹ sræng ›	‹ srjæng ›	‹ sij^X ›
Old Chinese	/sreŋ/ (MC srj- > sr-; or s.reŋ ?)	/sreŋ/ (or s.reŋ ?)	/*sijʔ/
English	bear, be born; live	bear, be born; live	die (v.)
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. [t] as coda may in fact be -t or -p; Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	生	生	死
Reading #	1/2	2/2	1/1
No.	11312	11322	12006
Phonetic component	生	生	死
Rime group	耕	耕	脂
Rime subdivision	0	0	2
Corresponding MC rime	生	生	死
Old Chinese	/*sʰleːŋ/	/*sreŋs/	/*hljiʔ/

Verb

生死

to live and die
這是關係到生死的大事。 [MSC, trad.]
这是关系到生死的大事。 [MSC, simp.]
Zhè shì guānxì dào shēngsǐ de dàshì. [Pinyin]
This is a matter of life and death.

Derived terms

一生死
不顧生死 / 不顾生死
出入生死
同患難，共生死 / 同患难，共生死
同生死 (tóngshēngsǐ)
同生死，共存亡
同生死，共患難 / 同生死，共患难
拼生死
未卜生死
物有生死
生死不易
生死不渝
生死不負 / 生死不负
生死之交
生死予奪 / 生死予夺
生死交
生死兩全保險 / 生死两全保险
生死分定
生死場 / 生死场
生死存亡 (shēngsǐcúnwáng)
生死弟兄 (shēngsǐ dìxiōng)
生死搏鬥 / 生死搏斗 (shēngsǐbódòu)
生死攸關 / 生死攸关 (shēngsǐ yōuguān)
生死文字
生死有命
生死有命，富貴在天 / 生死有命，富贵在天 (shēngsǐ yǒu mìng, fùguì zài tiān)
生死有處 / 生死有处
生死未卜 (shēngsǐwèibǔ)
生死榮辱 / 生死荣辱
生死永別 / 生死永别
生死海
生死無貳 / 生死无贰
生死牢關 / 生死牢关
生死相依
生死簿 (shēngsǐbù)
生死緣 / 生死缘
生死線 / 生死线
生死肉骨
生死與共 / 生死与共
生死與奪 / 生死与夺
生死苦海
生死見交情 / 生死见交情
生死觀 / 生死观
生死輪 / 生死轮
生死輪迴 / 生死轮回
生死醉夢 / 生死醉梦
生死長夜 / 生死长夜
生死關頭 / 生死关头 (shēngsǐguāntóu)
生死骨肉
生生死死
義同生死 / 义同生死 (yìtóngshēngsǐ)
誓同生死

Adjective

生死

(attributive) life-and-death

Adverb

生死

(Sichuanese) anyway

Synonyms

edit

不管怎樣 / 不管怎样 (bùguǎnzěnyàng)
不管怎麼樣 / 不管怎么样 (bùguǎn zěnmeyàng)
反正
好歹 (hǎodǎi)
好賴 / 好赖 (hǎolài)
橫直 / 横直 (héngzhí) (dialectal)
橫豎 / 横竖 (héngshù)
橫豎橫 / 横竖横 (Northern Wu)
死活 (sǐhuó)
無論如何 / 无论如何 (wúlùnrúhé)
紅黑 / 红黑 (hong² he²) (Sichuanese)
總之 / 总之 (zǒngzhī)
長短 / 长短 (chángduǎn) (literary)

Dialectal synonyms of 反正 (“anyway”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Classical Chinese		長短
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		反正, 不管怎樣, 無論如何
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	反正, 橫豎, 橫直
	Taiwan	反正, 橫豎
	Singapore	反正
Jilu Mandarin	Jinan	反正, 橫豎
Central Plains Mandarin	Xi'an	反正
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	橫順, 橫豎, 左橫, 紅黑, 高矮, 生死
	Wuhan	橫直
	Guiyang	千急
Jianghuai Mandarin	Yangzhou	反正
Jianghuai Mandarin	Hefei	反正, 橫豎
Cantonese	Guangzhou	橫掂
	Hong Kong	橫掂, 反正
	Hong Kong (San Tin; Weitou)	橫掂
	Hong Kong (Kam Tin; Weitou)	橫掂
	Hong Kong (Ting Kok)	橫掂
	Hong Kong (Tung Ping Chau)	橫掂
	Macau	橫掂
	Guangzhou (Panyu)	橫掂
	Guangzhou (Huashan, Huadu)	橫掂
	Guangzhou (Conghua)	橫掂
	Guangzhou (Zengcheng)	反正
	Foshan	橫掂
	Foshan (Shatou, Nanhai)	橫掂
	Foshan (Shunde)	橫掂
	Foshan (Sanshui)	橫掂
	Foshan (Mingcheng, Gaoming)	左右
	Zhongshan (Shiqi)	橫掂
	Zhuhai (Qianshan, Xiangzhou)	橫掂
	Zhuhai (Shangheng, Doumen; Tanka)	橫掂
	Zhuhai (Doumen)	橫掂
	Jiangmen (Baisha)	橫掂
	Jiangmen (Xinhui)	橫掂
	Taishan	橫掂
	Kaiping (Chikan)	橫掂
	Enping (Niujiang)	橫掂
	Heshan (Yayao)	橫掂
	Dongguan	橫掂
	Shenzhen (Shajing, Bao'an)	反正
	Yangjiang	橫掂
	Nanning	橫直
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	橫掂
Gan	Nanchang	橫直
Hakka	Meixian	贏輸, 橫直, 橫正, 反正
	Huizhou (Huicheng; Bendihua)	橫掂
	Huiyang	橫掂
	Dongguan (Qingxi)	橫掂
	Shenzhen (Shatoujiao)	反正
	Zhongshan (Nanlang Heshui)	反正
	Heyuan (Bendihua)	反正
	Liannan	反正
	Guangzhou (Lütian, Conghua)	橫掂, 反正
	Jiexi	反正
	Changting	橫直
	Ninghua	反正
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	反正
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	反正
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	反正
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	反正
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	反正
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	橫直
	Hong Kong	橫掂
	Luchuan	反正
	Senai (Huiyang)	反正
Jin	Taiyuan	反正, 橫豎
Northern Min	Jian'ou	橫直
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	橫直, 好呆
Southern Min	Xiamen	橫直, 根拄
	Quanzhou	橫直
	Yongchun	橫直
	Zhangzhou	橫直, 生成
	Dongshan	橫直
	Tainan	橫直
	Pingnan (Shangdu)	反正
	Shantou	長短, 反正, 橫直
	Shantou (Chaoyang)	正倒
	Jieyang	長短, 正倒
	Puning	反正, 正倒
	Johor Bahru (Teochew)	反正
	Leizhou	橫直
Puxian Min	Putian	橫直
	Putian (Donghai, Chengxiang)	橫直
	Xianyou	反正, 橫直
Zhongshan Min	Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi)	橫掂
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	橫直
Wu	Shanghai	橫豎, 反正
	Suzhou	橫豎, 橫道
	Changzhou	橫縱, 橫豎
	Wenzhou	橫直, 到老
Xiang	Changsha	橫直, 橫去
Xiang	Shuangfeng	橫直, 紅黑

References

“生死”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.
莆田市政协文化文史和学习委员会 [Culture, History and Learning Committee of Putian CPPCC], editor (2021), “生死”, in 莆仙方言大词典 [Comprehensive Dictionary of Puxian Dialect] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), Xiamen University Press, →ISBN, page 475.

Japanese

Kanji in this term
生	死
せい Grade: 1	し Grade: 3
on'yomi

Noun

生(せい)死(し) • (seishi)

life and death; dead or alive

Related terms

生(せい)歿(ぼつ) (seibotsu, “birth and death”)
消(しょう)息(そく) (shōsoku)
安(あん)危(き) (anki, “safety and danger”)

Korean

Hanja in this term
生	死

Noun

生死 • (saengsa) (hangeul 생사)

hanja form^? of 생사 (“life-and-death”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
生	死

Verb

生死

chữ Hán form of sinh tử (“to live and die”)