歲suì寒hán，然rán後hòu知zhī松sōng柏bǎi之zhī後hòu凋diāo也yě

What does 歲寒，然後知松柏之後凋也 (suì hán, rán hòu zhī sōng bǎi zhī hòu diāo yě) mean?

歲寒，然後知松柏之後凋也 (suì hán, rán hòu zhī sōng bǎi zhī hòu diāo yě) is a line of classical verse (shīcí 詩詞). Word for word it reads "only when the year turns cold do we know the pine and cypress are the last to wither." In use it means: Character shows in hard seasons; the ones who hold their color when everything else fades are revealed only by the cold. 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 Dog.

Literally: "only when the year turns cold do we know the pine and cypress are the last to wither."

The reading

All summer the pine looks no greener than the leaves that will abandon the branch by November. Wait for the frost, and you will see who was evergreen the whole time. Cold is simply the season that stops the pretending.

The story

From the Analects, 9.28, where Confucius says that only when the year turns cold do we know that the pine and cypress are the last to wither. All summer they look no greener than the leaves that will fall; the frost is simply the season that stops the pretending and reveals whose character holds its color.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeshīcí 詩詞
• FocusPresent-minded
• Element木 Wood
• Zodiac tie狗 Year of the Dog

Source 《論語·子罕》 (Analects 9.28)

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 Dog, Year of the Tiger, and Year of the Horse.