常棣

chángdì

noun

Meanings

1 bush cherry, a flowering shrub with small edible fruit
2 The Bush Cherry, an ode on brotherly love in the Lesser Odes of the Book of Songs

Characters

part of the shrub's name

di, a flowering shrub

Examples

HSK 6

古人用常棣比喻兄弟之间的感情。

Gǔrén yòng chángdì bǐyù xiōngdì zhījiān de gǎnqíng.

People in ancient times used the bush cherry as an image of the bond between brothers.

HSK 7-9

“兄弟阋于墙，外御其侮”这句话出自《常棣》。

" Xiōngdìxìyúqiáng, wài yù qí wǔ " zhè jù huà chūzì 《 Chángdì 》.

The saying 'brothers may quarrel at home, but they stand together against insults from outside' comes from 'The Bush Cherry'.

Tips

culture

The ode opens with the bush cherry in flower and then states its theme: 凡今之人，莫如兄弟。 'Of all people now, none are as close as brothers.' Its line 脊令在原 'wagtails on the plain' made the wagtail, 鹡鸰, a byword for brothers who rush to help each other.

usage

Often written 棠棣, and in literary writing both names stand for brothers.

Stroke Order

常 cháng

棣 dì