一枝红杏出墙来

一枝紅杏出牆來

yīzhīhóngxìngchūqiánglái

phrase

Meanings

1 a branch of red apricot blossom reaches out over the wall
2 something vibrant that can't be contained (often alluded to as a metaphor for an affair, from later slang 红杏出墙)

Characters

(directional: toward)

Examples

走到巷口，只见一枝红杏出墙来，春意扑面。

Zǒu dào xiàngkǒu, zhǐ jiàn yī zhī hóng xìng chū qiáng lái, chūnyì pūmiàn.

Reaching the alley's end, a single apricot branch leaned out over the wall, and spring hit me in the face.

古人写春常用一枝红杏出墙来作结。

Gǔrén xiě chūn cháng yòng yī zhī hóng xìng chū qiáng lái zuò jié.

Classical poets often ended spring poems with 'a branch of red apricot over the wall.'

Tips

history

From 叶绍翁 Ye Shaoweng (Southern Song) 《游园不值》: 春色满园关不住，一枝红杏出墙来 — 'spring's abundance can't be shut in; a branch of red apricot reaches over the wall.' The poet, locked out of a garden, glimpses spring escaping anyway.

usage

In modern slang 红杏出墙 (without 一枝) has come to mean 'a wife having an affair' — but the original poem has no such meaning. Context disambiguates: literary quotation vs. tabloid idiom.

Stroke Order

一 yī

枝 zhī

红 hóng

杏 xìng

出 chū

墙 qiáng

来 lái