发我枝上花

發我枝上花

fāwǒzhīshànghuā

phrase

Meanings

1 coaxes open the blossoms on my branches
2 (fig.) the poet's complaint that spring wind has no right to invade his garden
3 (lit.) open my branch-upon flower

Characters

flower (枝上花 = flowers on the branch)

Examples

春风复多情，吹我罗裳开。发我枝上花，似欲催人老，李白感伤春易逝。

Chūnfēng fù duōqíng, chuī wǒ luócháng kāi. Fā wǒ zhī shàng huā, sì yù cuī rén lǎo, Lǐ Bái gǎnshāng chūn yì shì.

'Spring wind, again so full of feeling, blows open my silk skirt. It coaxes the blossoms on my branches, as if to rush me on toward age' — Li Bai laments how quickly spring passes.

他观赏园中桃花，想起那句发我枝上花。

Tā guānshǎng yuán zhōng táohuā, xiǎng qǐ nà jù fā wǒ zhī shàng huā.

Viewing the peach blossoms in his garden, he thought of the line 'coaxes open the blossoms on my branches.'

Tips

history

From 李白《落日忆山中》 / 《别山僧》 tradition (Li Bai, Tang); most commonly attributed to Li Bai's short lyric: 东风随春归，发我枝上花 (The east wind follows spring in its return, coaxing open the flowers on my branches). The line is also echoed in related Li Bai 古风 poems. Spring wind as a personified, mischievous intruder is a familiar Tang trope — often read as time's hidden thief.

usage

发 here = 'to open / cause to bloom' (fā), a transitive classical usage, NOT modern 'send / hair.' 枝上花 is a standard poetic compound = 'flowers on the branch.' The line is almost always quoted in the context of 东风 / 春风 as the agent.

Stroke Order

发 fā

我 wǒ

枝 zhī

上 shàng

花 huā