菜根香

càigēnxiāng

phrase

Meanings

1 "the roots of vegetables are fragrant" (contentment with simple fare)
2 Caigenxiang (restaurant name)

Characters

Examples

HSK 5

咬得菜根香，百事可做。

Yǎo de càigēnxiāng, bǎishì kě zuò.

One who can savour the fragrance of vegetable roots can accomplish anything.

HSK 7-9

北京有一家叫菜根香的素食馆。

Běijīng yǒu yìjiā jiào Càigēnxiāng de sùshí guǎn.

Beijing has a vegetarian restaurant called Caigenxiang.

Tips

history

Echoes the proverb 咬得菜根，百事可做 - "a man who can chew through vegetable roots can do anything" - popularised by the late-Ming book 《菜根谭》 (Caigentan, Discourse on Vegetable Roots, c. 1590) by Hong Yingming. Hence the widespread use of 菜根香 as a name for vegetarian and Buddhist-style restaurants.

Stroke Order

菜 cài

根 gēn

香 xiāng