Tā zài xuéshù shàng lǐngyìbiāoxīn'èryuèhuā, tíchū le xǔduō dúdào jiànjiě.
In scholarship he 'blazes a new trail, ahead of the season,' offering many original insights.
Tips
history
From 郑燮《新竹》 (Zheng Xie / Zheng Banqiao, 'New Bamboo,' Qing dynasty, mid-18th c.): 新竹高于旧竹枝，全凭老干为扶持。明年再有新生者，十丈龙孙绕凤池 - and his related self-portrait couplet 删繁就简三秋树，领异标新二月花 (Prune the complex for the simple, like autumn trees; lead the different and mark the new, like second-month flowers). Zheng Banqiao was one of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou; the couplet is his artistic manifesto: cut the clichéd, open the original.
usage
Usually quoted with its partner line 删繁就简三秋树. 二月花 (second-month = early spring) symbolizes a flower that dares to bloom before the rest. Used today in art criticism, branding, and startup prose.
