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春风又绿江南岸

春風又綠江南岸
chūnfēngyòulǜjiāngnán'àn
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 the spring wind has once more turned the southern riverbanks green
  2. 2 fig. spring returns to the lands south of the Yangtze
  3. 3 Wang Anshi's line famous for using 绿 as a verb

Examples

春风又绿江南岸，明月何时照我还？
Chūnfēng yòu lǜ Jiāngnán àn, míngyuè héshí zhào wǒ huán?
The spring wind has once more greened the southern shore — when will the bright moon light my return?
每到春天，我就想起那句春风又绿江南岸。
Měi dào chūntiān, wǒ jiù xiǎng qǐ nà jù chūnfēng yòu lǜ Jiāngnán àn.
Every spring I think of that line: 'the spring wind again greens the Jiangnan shore.'

Tips

history
From Wang Anshi's (王安石) Northern Song poem 《泊船瓜洲》 (Mooring at Guazhou): 京口瓜洲一水间，钟山只隔数重山。春风又绿江南岸，明月何时照我还。 — 'Jingkou and Guazhou are a river apart; Mount Zhong is only a few ranges beyond. The spring wind has once more greened the southern shore — when will the moon light my return?' Famous anecdote: Wang Anshi reportedly revised the verb 到 → 过 → 入 → 满 → 绿 before settling on 绿, which turned the noun 'green' into a verb and became a textbook example of 炼字 (careful word choice).
usage
The 绿 here is verbal: 'to make green / to green.' A staple example in Chinese rhetoric and composition classes. Often paired with 明月何时照我还.

Stroke Order

春 chūn
风 fēng
又 yòu
绿 lǜ
江 jiāng
南 nán
岸 àn