생로병사

Korean

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 生老病死 (“birth, old age, disease, death”), referring to the four sights of the miseries of human existence encountered by the young Buddha, which motivated his desire to end human suffering.

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [sʰɛŋno̞bjʌ̹ŋsʰa̠] ~ [sʰe̞ŋno̞bjʌ̹ŋsʰa̠]
• Phonetic hangul: [생노병사/셍노병사]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	saengnobyeongsa
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	saenglobyeongsa
McCune–Reischauer?	saengnobyŏngsa
Yale Romanization?	saynglopyengsa

Noun

생로병사 • (saengnobyeongsa) (hanja 生老病死)

1. (four-character idiom from Classical Chinese, originally Buddhism) birth, old age, disease, and death, the destiny of all humanity

   부모님을 어릴 적에 여읜 후 인간의 생로병사를 실감하며 평생 살아 왔다.

   bumonim-eul eoril jeog-e yeouin hu in'gan-ui saengnobyeongsa-reul silgamha-myeo pyeongsaeng sara watda.

   After losing her parents at an early age, she has lived all her life in the realization of human mortality.