春蚕吐丝

春蠶吐絲
chūncántǔsī
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 spring silkworms spinning silk
  2. 2 to work selflessly until the very end

Examples

Lǎoshī chūncántǔsī bān bǎ yíbèizi xiàn gěi le jiàoyù.
Like spring silkworms spinning silk, the teacher gave his whole life to education.
Tā xíngróng fùmǔ de ài xiàng chūncántǔsī, wú yuàn wú huǐ.
He described his parents' love as spring silkworms spinning silk — without complaint or regret.

Tips

history
Draws on Li Shangyin's Tang line ('the spring silkworm's thread is spun out only at death'). (sī, silk) puns with (sī, longing), so the phrase carries both 'work until exhausted' and 'undying devotion' senses.

Stroke Order

chūn
cán