📖 Meaning
A metaphor for both grace and severity. 'Spring dew' symbolizes gentle benevolence and favor, while 'autumn frost' represents stern authority and punishment. It is also used when remembering and honoring one's ancestors.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from 'Wen Xin Diao Long' (The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons) by Liu Xie of the Liang Dynasty in the Southern Dynasties. In the chapter on edicts and decrees, Liu Xie wrote that when granting amnesty for calamities, the prose should carry the nourishing warmth of spring dew; when clarifying punishments and enforcing laws, the language should bear the biting severity of autumn frost. The phrase thus came to embody the dual nature of governance—compassion alongside sternness—and was later extended to express the remembrance and reverence for one's forebears.
💡 Example Usage
每逢祭祖之日，他都会感念先人的春露秋霜，心中充满敬意。
On every ancestral worship day, he would reflect on the grace and legacy of his forebears, his heart filled with reverence.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 春露秋霜
- Pinyin: chūn lù qiū shuāng
- Literal Translation: spring dew, autumn frost
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4