病bìng來lái如rú山shān倒dǎo，病bìng去qù如rú抽chōu絲sī

What does 病來如山倒，病去如抽絲 (bìng lái rú shān dǎo bìng qù rú chōu sī) mean?

病來如山倒，病去如抽絲 (bìng lái rú shān dǎo bìng qù rú chōu sī) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語). Word for word it reads "illness comes like a mountain falling, illness leaves like pulling silk." In use it means: Illness strikes suddenly but heals slowly; recovery takes patience. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Earth note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Snake.

Literally: "illness comes like a mountain falling, illness leaves like pulling silk."

The reading

The mountain falls with the decisiveness of one enormous event, and the silk unravels slowly, thread by thread, and there is no way to hurry either. What illness takes from the body in one catastrophic arrival the body reclaims over the long, measured time of the silk. Patience with the slow recovery is the final act of the illness, and it is the one most likely to be skipped.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeyànyǔ 諺語
• FocusPresent-minded
• Element土 Earth
• Zodiac tie蛇 Year of the Snake

Source Traditional Chinese folk health proverb (yanyu)

Sits beside

Keep reading

Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in Nature, Seasons & Health, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Snake, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Rabbit.