sanh kí tử qui

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Meaning · English

Life is a lodging, death the return — we are clay on loan, homeward bound.

Literally: living is sojourn, dying is return

Examples

Ông cụ ra đi thanh thản, sanh kí tử qui.He passed serenely — life the lodging, death the going home.

Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)

Sources & notes

Discovered via Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.

Common questions

What does “sanh kí tử qui” mean?

Life is a lodging, death the return — we are clay on loan, homeward bound. Literally: living is sojourn, dying is return

Is “sanh kí tử qui” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.