正是河豚欲上时

正是河豚欲上時

zhèng shì hétún yù shàng shí

quotation

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

HSK 5

江边开满桃花，正是河豚欲上时。

Jiāngbiān kāi mǎn táohuā, zhèngshìhétúnyùshàngshí.

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

HSK 7-9

春到江南，正是河豚欲上时，也是吃鱼的好时节。

Chūn dào Jiāngnán, zhèngshìhétúnyùshàngshí, 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 (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