---
title: "Shengsi Meaning: 生死 (shēngsǐ) Means “life and death”"
description: "生死 (shēngsǐ) means “life and death; life-or-death”. Hear its tones, see what 生 and 死 each mean and a real sentence that uses it."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/shengsi"
published: "2026-10-21"
updated: "2026-11-06"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

[What does it mean in Chinese?](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning)

# What does 生死 mean?

猫头鹰māotóuyīngowl

生死 shēngsǐ

## life and death; life-or-death

## Its characters

1. 生 shēng life
2. 死 sǐ (used after a verb) to death

## In a sentence

对他来说，这是一场生死考验。 For him, this was a life-or-death test.

**生死**簿上写着每个人能活多少年。

From [大闹地府 · Trouble in the Underworld](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/trouble-in-the-underworld-journey-to-the-west-easy-chinese-5#library-word-417-419)

[More about 生死](https://mandarinthewild.com/words/%E7%94%9F%E6%AD%BB)

## More words with 生 or 死

- [毕业生 bìyèshēng](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/biyesheng)
- [产生 chǎnshēng](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/chansheng)
- [出生 chūshēng](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/chusheng)
- [诞生 dànshēng](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/dansheng)
- [大学生 dàxuéshēng](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/daxuesheng)
- [发生 fāshēng](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/fasheng)
- [花生 huāshēng](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/huasheng)
- [抗生素 kàngshēngsù](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/kangshengsu)
- [考生 kǎoshēng](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/kaosheng)
- [留学生 liúxuéshēng](https://mandarinthewild.com/meaning/liuxuesheng)

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