人比黄花瘦

人比黃花瘦
rén bǐ huánghuā shòu
quotation

Meanings

  1. 1 the person has grown thinner than the yellow chrysanthemum
  2. 2 (fig.) wasting away from lovesickness or long separation — the supreme image of the lover's pining
  3. 3 (lit.) person — compared-to — yellow — flower — thin

Examples

Tā jiǔ bìng xiāoshòu, zhēn yǒu jǐ fēn rénbǐhuánghuāshòu de wèidào.
She had grown thin from long illness — truly a touch of 'thinner than the yellow chrysanthemum.'
Àirén yuǎnxíng, tā xíngróng zìjǐ shì mò dào bù xiāo hún, lián juǎn xīfēng, rénbǐhuánghuāshòu.
Her love was far away; she described herself as 'don't say the soul is not undone — the curtain rolls in the west wind, and she is thinner than the yellow flower.'

Tips

history
Closing line of 李清照》 (Li Qingzhao, Northern Song, c. early 1100s), sent to her husband during one of his official postings: 薄雾佳节半夜把酒黄昏西风 (Thin mist, thick clouds — all day I grieve; sandalwood-incense melts in the bronze beast. The festival comes round again — Double Ninth; jade pillow, gauze curtain — midnight's cold just seeps through. At the east hedge I held wine past dusk; a subtle fragrance filled my sleeve. Don't say the soul isn't undone — the curtain rolls in the west wind, and the person is thinner than the yellow flower). Traditionally called the greatest closing in all Song ci.
usage
here specifically means 菊花 (chrysanthemum), which blooms at 重阳节 (Double Ninth) when Li Qingzhao composed the ci. is the classical comparative ('compared to / more than'). Always canonically preceded by 西风 — the image of the wind revealing the thin figure.

Stroke Order

rén
huáng
huā
shòu