失传

• Pinyin: shī chuán
• Hanzi breakdown: 失 = 手 + 乙 (to lose, to let slip); 传 = 亻+ 专 (to transmit, to pass on, to bequeath)

Meaning

To be lost to posterity; to have no surviving transmission — said of skills, techniques, texts, or knowledge for which no living practitioner or record remains.

Used to describe cultural heritage, traditional arts, crafts, medical techniques, or manuscripts that have been lost because they were never passed down or the lineage was broken. Common in discussions of cultural preservation, traditional Chinese medicine, and intangible heritage. Opposite: 传承至今 (passed down to the present). Collocations: 濒临失传 (on the verge of being lost), 已近失传 (nearly lost), 独门技艺已失传 (a unique skill has been lost).

Examples

1. 这门制作宣纸的古法工艺一度濒临失传，幸得数位老艺人毕生坚守，才使其得以延续至今。 This ancient method of making xuan paper was once on the verge of being lost, but thanks to a few elder artisans’ lifelong dedication, it has survived to this day.
2. 由于历史上多次战乱与典籍焚毁，大量珍贵的中医秘方和针灸技法已永久失传，令后人深感痛惜。 Because of repeated wars and the burning of texts throughout history, many precious secret traditional Chinese medicine formulas and acupuncture techniques have been lost forever, to the deep regret of later generations.
3. 学者们正争分夺秒地记录和整理濒危方言中的词汇与语法，力求在这些语言彻底失传之前留存完整档案。 Scholars are racing against time to document vocabulary and grammar in endangered dialects, striving to preserve a complete record before these languages disappear entirely.

Usage Guide

Context: cultural heritage, history, traditional arts, language, medicine

Tone: lamentative

Do Say

• 政府投入专项资金，委托文化学者对全国各地濒临失传的非物质文化遗产进行系统记录和抢救性保护。(The government has invested dedicated funds and commissioned cultural scholars to systematically document and carry out emergency conservation of intangible cultural heritage across the country that is on the verge of being lost.)
• 该寺院珍藏的几卷古代医学手稿，记录了一套已失传数百年的针灸疗法，为现代研究者重建这一古法开辟了全新的可能。(Several ancient medical manuscripts preserved in this monastery document an acupuncture therapy that has been lost for centuries, opening entirely new possibilities for modern researchers to reconstruct this ancient method.)

Don't Say

• 失传 to describe a person who has died without leaving heirs — 失传 refers specifically to knowledge, skills, or cultural practices with no surviving transmission; use 绝后 or 无人继承 for describing a lack of successors

Origin & History

失 (to lose) + 传 (to transmit, to pass down, to bequeath)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal