花huā有yǒu重chóng開kāi日rì，人rén無wú再zài少shào年nián

What does 花有重開日，人無再少年 (huā yǒu chóng kāi rì rén wú zài shào nián) mean?

花有重開日，人無再少年 (huā yǒu chóng kāi rì rén wú zài shào nián) is a line of classical verse (shīcí 詩詞). Word for word it reads "flowers have days to bloom again, people have no second youth." In use it means: Flowers return every spring, but youth comes only once. Time moves in circles for nature and in a straight line for people. Use the irreplaceable years while they are here. 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 Rabbit.

Literally: "flowers have days to bloom again, people have no second youth."

The reading

The cherry tree blooms again next April. You do not. Your April came once and left at a speed you did not notice until the petals were already on the ground. This is not a sad fact. It is an urgent one. The flower has infinite springs. You have this one. Treat it like the unrepeatable thing it is.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeshīcí 詩詞
• FocusPresent-minded
• Element木 Wood
• Zodiac tie兔 Year of the Rabbit

Source Guan Hanqing 關漢卿 (Yuan drama); folk proverb form

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 Rabbit, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.