正是河豚欲上时

正是河豚欲上時

zhèngshìhétúnyùshàngshí

phrase

Meanings

1 this is exactly the season when the pufferfish come upstream
2 (fig.) a signature poetic marker of early spring along the Yangtze — reed shoots sprouting, pufferfish running
3 (lit.) just — is — pufferfish — about-to — go-up — time

Characters

piglet (河豚 = pufferfish)

Examples

江边开满桃花，正是河豚欲上时。

Jiāng biān kāi mǎn táohuā, zhèng shì hétún yù shàng shí.

Peach blossoms filled the riverbank — truly the season when pufferfish come upstream.

春到江南，正是河豚欲上时，也是吃鱼的好时节。

Chūn dào Jiāngnán, zhèng shì hétún yù shàng shí, yě shì chī yú de hǎo shíjié.

Spring reaches Jiangnan — 'the pufferfish season,' and the best time of year to eat fish.

Tips

history

Final line of 苏轼《惠崇春江晚景》 (Su Shi, Northern Song, 1085), a poem written on Huichong's painting of a spring river scene: 竹外桃花三两枝，春江水暖鸭先知。蒌蒿满地芦芽短，正是河豚欲上时 (Beyond the bamboo, two or three peach-blossom sprays; spring river warming, the ducks are first to know. Artemisia covers the ground, reed shoots are still short — just the season the pufferfish come upstream). Pufferfish (河豚) ascend the Yangtze to spawn in early spring, and Song-dynasty Jiangsu cuisine made eating them (at great risk — their liver is lethally toxic) a spring ritual.

usage

河豚 = pufferfish (CC-CEDICT: hétún, 'blowfish; puffer, Tetraodontidae'). 上 here means 'to go up (the river)' — i.e. upstream migration, not 'above.' Commonly cited when noting the arrival of early spring, especially in Jiangsu / Zhejiang.

Stroke Order

正 zhèng

是 shì

河 hé

豚 tún

欲 yù

上 shàng

时 shí