📖 Meaning
A withered tree puts forth new growth and flourishes again. It metaphorically describes something that has declined or fallen into ruin regaining new life and vitality. The idiom conveys hope that even seemingly dead things can be revived.
📜 Origin Story
There is no single definitive classical source recorded for this idiom. It draws on the vivid natural imagery of a dead or withered tree bursting into renewed bloom, a motif that recurs throughout Chinese literary tradition. Similar expressions about withered plants reviving appear in various historical texts across different dynasties. The phrase belongs to a broader family of idioms conveying the philosophical idea that decline is not necessarily permanent and that life can return to what seemed lost.
💡 Example Usage
经过老园丁的悉心照料，这棵枯木发荣，重新长出了嫩叶。
Under the old gardener's careful tending, the withered tree revived and sprouted fresh leaves again.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 枯木发荣
- Pinyin: kū mù fā róng
- Literal Translation: withered, tree, send forth, glory
- Category: Recovery
- Characters: 4