春chūn草cǎo年nián年nián綠lǜ，王wáng孫sūn歸guī不bù歸guī

What does 春草年年綠，王孫歸不歸 (chūn cǎo nián nián lǜ wáng sūn guī bù guī) mean?

春草年年綠，王孫歸不歸 (chūn cǎo nián nián lǜ wáng sūn guī bù guī) is a line of classical verse (shīcí 詩詞). Word for word it reads "spring grass year after year green, wandering son return or not return." In use it means: Nature renews itself endlessly, but the wanderer may or may not return-longing for the absent. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Wood note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Goat.

Literally: "spring grass year after year green, wandering son return or not return."

The reading

The grass does not wait for the traveler; it simply keeps being green in the spring, reliably, as if demonstrating what faithfulness without expectation looks like. The one who went away is thought of in terms of this grass: will they return when it is green again. The seasons mark the absences.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeshīcí 詩詞
• FocusPresent-minded
• Element木 Wood
• Zodiac tie羊 Year of the Goat

Source Wang Wei 王維·《山中送別》 (Shān Zhōng Sòng Bié, Tang Dynasty poem)

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 Home, Family & Roots, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Goat, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.