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落红不是无情物

落紅不是無情物
luòhóngbùshìwúqíngwù
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 fallen blossoms are not unfeeling things
  2. 2 (fig.) even what falls away still devotes itself to new growth
  3. 3 (lit.) fallen red is not an unfeeling object

Examples

龚自珍说落红不是无情物，化作春泥更护花，表达的是一种奉献精神。
Gōng Zìzhēn shuō luòhóng bù shì wúqíng wù, huà zuò chūnní gèng hù huā, biǎodá de shì yī zhǒng fèngxiàn jīngshén.
Gong Zizhen's 'fallen blossoms are not unfeeling — they become spring mud to shelter new flowers' expresses a spirit of devotion.
老教师退休后仍然指导学生，真是落红不是无情物。
Lǎo jiàoshī tuìxiū hòu réngrán zhǐdǎo xuéshēng, zhēn shì luòhóng bù shì wúqíng wù.
The old teacher, retired but still mentoring students, truly 'gives of himself even in falling.'

Tips

history
From 龚自珍《己亥杂诗·其五》(Gong Zizhen, Qing dynasty, 1839): 浩荡离愁白日斜，吟鞭东指即天涯。落红不是无情物，化作春泥更护花 (Vast parting sorrow — white sun slanting; a poet's whip points east, already the world's edge. Fallen petals are not unfeeling things — turned to spring mud, they nurture the flowers still). Written when Gong resigned his post; the couplet has become the canonical image of self-sacrificing devotion — teachers, mentors, departing officials.
usage
Almost never quoted alone — always paired with 化作春泥更护花. 落红 = 'fallen red,' i.e. petals. The phrase is a standard graduation-speech reference.

Stroke Order

落 luò
红 hóng
不 bù
是 shì
无 wú
情 qíng
物 wù