三长两短

sǎn cháng liǎng duǎn

  • Meaning

    Literal

    "Three longs two shorts"

    Usage

    Used to refer to an unexpected misfortune, especially death

  • Connotation

    Negative

  • Usage Examples

    你要有个三长两短，我也不想活了 | Nǐ yào yǒu gè sānchángliǎngduǎn, wǒ yě bù xiǎng huó le
    If anything should ever happen to you, I don't want to live
    [Source]

    万一你有个什么三长两短的，他这下半辈子就会生活在罪恶感中了 | Wàn yī nǐ yǒu gè shénme sānchángliǎngduǎn de, tā zhè xià bànbèizi jiù huì shēnghuó zài zuì'è gǎn zhōng le
    If anything ever happened to you, he would live in guilt for the rest of his life
    [Source]

  • Equivalents

    English

    If anything should ever happen to [a person]

    Chinese

    一长两短 (yī cháng liǎng duǎn)

  • Entry Notes

    No one appears to be able to conclusively determine where this chengyu actually came from. I've listed the two most popular of the four stories that I've seen floating around. Both of them have to do with coffins.

  • Origin

    Uncertain -- Either my resources all attributed this chengyu to different people or this information has been lost to history

  • Story

    Version 1
    In this version, "three longs two shorts" refers to how people in ancient times sealed coffin lids without nails. In order to keep everything secure, they would wrap three long strips of leather around the coffin horizontally, while vertically, they would use two shorter strips.

    This explanation comes from《礼记》(Lǐ Jì, or the Book of Rites), a famous work of the Western Hàn Dynasty (西汉, 206 BC - 25 AD). It should be noted that 《礼记》's description of the coffin-binding process is very brief and confusing, and a much-needed elucidation was provided in the Táng Dynasty (唐, 618 - 907) work《孔颖达疏》(Kǒng Yǐn Dá Shū).

    Version 2
    Here, "three longs two shorts" refers not to strips of leather, but rather the wooden planks used in coffin construction. A coffin required three long planks for the sides and the bottom, as well as two shorter planks for the head and the feet. (The top of the coffin was not taken into consideration, as it wasn't needed until the coffin was used.)

    This explanation comes from the later Hàn Dynasty (东汉, 225 - 220) work《越绝书》(Yuè Jué Shū).

  • Citations and Helpful Resources

    • 汉语成语小词典 (hànyǔ chéngyǔ xiǎo cídiǎn)
    • 现代汉语规范词典 (xiàndài hànyǔ guīfàn cídiǎn)
    • 多功能成语词典 (duō gōngnéng chéngyǔ cídiǎn)
    • 汉语大词典 (hànyǔ dà cídiǎn)
    • ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary
    • Pleco Basic Chinese-English Dictionary
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    • 天涯回答[x]
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