芳草

fāngcǎo
noun #35,130

Meanings

  1. 1 fragrant grass
  2. 2 (literary) sweet-smelling herbs / verdant meadow
  3. 3 (figurative) virtuous person

Examples

Tiānyá hé chù wú fāngcǎo.
Anywhere under heaven, fragrant grass can be found. (There are plenty of fish in the sea.)
Chūnfēng chuī lǜ le shānyě de fāngcǎo.
The spring breeze turned the wild meadows green.

Tips

history
Su Shi's 苏轼 line 天涯何处芳草 ('anywhere on earth there's fragrant grass') from the ci poem 《·》 became the canonical Chinese consolation after a breakup — equivalent to 'plenty of fish in the sea.'
culture
In classical poetry 芳草 often stands for virtue or the beloved — a convention going back to Qu Yuan's 《》, where fragrant plants symbolize moral purity.

Stroke Order

fāng
cǎo