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桃花流水鳜鱼肥

桃花流水鱖魚肥
táohuā liúshuǐ guì yú féi
quotation

Meanings

  1. 1 peach blossoms on the flowing water, the mandarin fish is fat
  2. 2 (of spring) the classic spring-fishing scene of southern rivers
  3. 3 (lit.) peach-blossom flowing water, mandarin-fish fat

Examples

HSK 7-9
江南三月，正是桃花流水鳜鱼肥的时节。
Jiāngnán sānyuè, zhèngshì táohuāliúshuǐguìyúféi de shíjié.
Jiangnan in March - the very season of 'peach blossoms on flowing water, mandarin fish plump.'
HSK 7-9
他写诗说西塞山前白鹭飞，桃花流水鳜鱼肥，画面极美。
Tā xiě shī shuō Xīsài Shān qián báilù fēi, táohuāliúshuǐguìyúféi, huàmiàn jí měi.
He cited the poem 'white egrets fly before Xisai Mountain; peach blossoms on flowing water, mandarin fish fat' - a beautiful picture.

Tips

history
From 张志和《渔歌子·西塞山前白鹭飞》 (mid-Tang): 西塞山前白鹭飞，桃花流水鳜鱼肥。青箬笠，绿蓑衣，斜风细雨不须归 (White egrets fly before Xisai Mountain; peach blossoms on flowing water, the mandarin fish plump. Green bamboo hat, green straw cape; in the slanting wind and fine rain, no need to go home). One of the most-loved short ci in Chinese literature, also deeply influential on Japanese waka through its travel to Heian-era poets.
usage
鳜 is read guì (mandarin fish, Siniperca chuatsi, a prized freshwater fish of southern China), not jué (the character has that variant reading too, but not here). Often cited as the template for Jiangnan spring imagery.

Stroke Order

桃 táo
花 huā
流 liú
水 shuǐ
鳜 guì
鱼 yú
肥 féi