落luò花huā有yǒu意yì，流liú水shuǐ無wú情qíng

What does 落花有意，流水無情 (luò huā yǒu yì liú shuǐ wú qíng) mean?

落花有意，流水無情 (luò huā yǒu yì liú shuǐ wú qíng) is a line of classical verse (shīcí 詩詞). Word for word it reads "the falling flower has feeling, the flowing water has none." In use it means: One side cares deeply while the other is indifferent. Desire and response do not always match. Accepting this asymmetry is part of growing up. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Water note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Rabbit.

Literally: "the falling flower has feeling, the flowing water has none."

The reading

The flower falls toward the stream and imagines it is being carried. The stream does not notice. It was already going that direction. Half of heartbreak is the discovery that your intensity was not shared, that the thing you thought was a conversation was a monologue. The flower still falls beautifully. The stream still flows. They just are not telling the same story.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeshīcí 詩詞
• FocusPresent-minded
• Element水 Water
• Zodiac tie兔 Year of the Rabbit

Source Xu Fu poem 續傳燈錄 (Song); 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 The Way of Water, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Rabbit, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.