斗轉星移 dǒu zhuǎn xīng yí

DEFINITIONS

  1. lit. the Big Dipper 北斗星[Bei3 dou3 xing1] has turned and the stars have moved
  2. time flies
  3. also written 星移斗轉|星移斗转[xing1 yi2 Dou3 zhuan3]

CHARACTERS

斗 dǒu
HSK 5
Chinese peck; liquid measure
轉 zhuǎn shift, move, turn
星 xīng
HSK 1
a star, planet; any point of light
移 yí
HSK 5
change place, shift; move about