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落红不是无情物

落紅不是無情物
luòhóng bù shì wúqíng wù
quotation

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

HSK 3
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, zhēnshì luòhóngbùshìwúqíngwù.
The old teacher, retired but still mentoring students, truly 'gives of himself even in falling.'
HSK 7-9
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 Zì zhēn shuō luòhóngbùshìwúqíngwù, huàzuòchūnnígènghùhuā, 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.

Tips

history
From 龚自珍's 《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, the 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 means '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