一枝红杏出墙来

一枝紅杏出牆來

yī zhī hóng xìng chū qiáng lái

quotation

Meanings

1 a branch of red apricot blossom reaches out over the wall
2 something vibrant that can't be contained (often alluded to as a metaphor for an affair, from later slang 红杏出墙)

Characters

(directional: toward)

Examples

HSK 7-9

走到巷口，只见一枝红杏出墙来，春意扑面。

Zǒu dào xiàng kǒu, zhǐjiàn yīzhīhóngxìngchūqiánglái, chūnyì pū miàn.

Reaching the alley's end, a single apricot branch leaned out over the wall, and spring hit me in the face.

HSK 7-9

古人写春常用一枝红杏出墙来作结。

Gǔrén xiě chūn chángyòng yīzhīhóngxìngchūqiánglái zuò jié.

Classical poets often ended spring poems with 'a branch of red apricot over the wall.'

Tips

history

From 叶绍翁 (Southern Song) 《游园不值》: 春色满园关不住，一枝红杏出墙来 - 'spring's abundance can't be shut in; a branch of red apricot reaches over the wall.' The poet, locked out of a garden, glimpses spring escaping anyway.

usage

In modern slang 红杏出墙 (without 一枝) has come to mean 'a wife having an affair', but the original poem has no such meaning. Context disambiguates: literary quotation vs. tabloid idiom.

Stroke Order

一 yī

枝 zhī

红 hóng

杏 xìng

出 chū

墙 qiáng

来 lái