諺語 · a single proverb
花無百日紅，人無千日好
Simplified: 花无百日红，人无千日好
What does 花無百日紅，人無千日好 (huā wú bǎi rì hóng, rén wú qiān rì hǎo) mean?
花無百日紅，人無千日好 (huā wú bǎi rì hóng, rén wú qiān rì hǎo) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語). Word for word it reads "no flower stays red for a hundred days, no person stays fortunate for a thousand." In use it means: Good times are temporary; prosperity and bloom always give way to decline, so appreciate them while they last. 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: "no flower stays red for a hundred days, no person stays fortunate for a thousand."
The reading
The flower does not fail. It completes. A hundred days of red is not a short life for a blossom. It is the full life. The same is true for any run of good fortune. It was never going to last forever. Knowing that does not diminish it. It makes it more worth noticing while it is here.
What kind of proverb it is
Source Yuan dynasty play 梧桐雨 (Wutong Yu) by Bai Pu 白樸; widely proverbial
Sits beside
冬至陽生春又來
dōng zhì yáng shēng chūn yòu lái
At the darkest moment of winter, yang energy is reborn and spring begins its return.
夜長夢多
yè cháng mèng duō
Delay leads to complications.
太公釣魚，願者上鉤
tài gōng diào yú yuàn zhě shàng gōu
The best way to attract people is not through trickery but through genuine worth.
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 Timing & Fortune's Turning, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Goat, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.
Questions
Is 花無百日紅，人無千日好 a real Chinese proverb?
Yes. 花無百日紅，人無千日好 (huā wú bǎi rì hóng, rén wú qiān rì hǎo) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語), and it comes from Yuan dynasty play 梧桐雨 (Wutong Yu) by Bai Pu 白樸; widely proverbial. It is living Chinese heritage, given here with per-character pinyin and its source so you can trust the line, not a phrase invented in English.
How do you pronounce 花無百日紅，人無千日好?
In Mandarin it is huā wú bǎi rì hóng, rén wú qiān rì hǎo. Read the pinyin above each character to follow the tones, or press the speaker beside the calligraphy to hear your browser read 花無百日紅，人無千日好 aloud in Mandarin.