风风雨雨

• Pinyin: fēng fēng yǔ yǔ
• Hanzi breakdown: 风 = 几 + 虫 (wind, air, spirit); 雨 = 一 + 冂 + dots (pictograph of rain falling from clouds)

Meaning

The ups and downs, hardships, and stormy experiences of life; sustained challenges and difficulties encountered over a long period.

A reduplication of 风雨 (wind and rain). Used to evoke the full range of life's difficulties — not just momentary hardship but sustained challenges over time. Often used when reflecting on a long period such as a career, a relationship, or a historical era.

Examples

1. 这对老夫妻相濡以沫五十年，经历了无数的风风雨雨，却从未动摇过彼此间深厚的感情与信任。 This elderly couple has supported each other for fifty years, living through countless ups and downs, yet never once wavering in their deep affection and trust.
2. 公司走到今天这一步，经历了创业初期的风风雨雨，也度过了行业低谷时期的重重考验，每一份成就背后都有无数人的心血与付出。 To reach where it is today, the company endured the storms of its early startup phase and weathered the severe tests of industry downturns; behind every achievement lies the dedication and hard work of countless people.
3. 她在回忆录中以平静的笔触记述了自己在那个特殊年代里所经历的风风雨雨，字里行间流露出一种历尽沧桑后才能有的豁达。 In her memoir, she calmly records the many hardships she lived through in that extraordinary era, and between the lines you can sense a kind of open-mindedness that comes only after seeing so much of life.

Usage Guide

Context: personal-narrative, biography, reflection, relationships

Tone: reflective

Do Say

• 回望过去这三十年，公司经历了无数的风风雨雨，有过辉煌的巅峰，也有过差点关门倒闭的至暗时刻，但正是这些起伏让我们变得更加坚韧。(Looking back over the past thirty years, the company has been through countless trials and tribulations — glorious peaks as well as the darkest of moments when it nearly closed its doors — but it is precisely these ups and downs that have made us more resilient.)
• 无论前方还有多少风风雨雨在等待，她都已下定决心不再退缩，因为她知道，真正的成长从来都不是在风平浪静中实现的。(No matter how many storms and trials still await ahead, she has resolved never to retreat again, because she knows that true growth is never achieved in calm, smooth waters.)

Don't Say

• 风风雨雨 for short-term or minor difficulties — it implies sustained, significant hardship over a longer period; for a single setback, use 挫折 or 困难

Origin & History

风风雨雨 = reduplicated form of 风雨 (wind and rain) — intensified image of persistent stormy hardship over time

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal