📖 Meaning
Flowing water departs without return and shows no sentiment. It is a metaphor for the passage of time that passes indifferently, without lingering or pausing. Often paired with 落花有意 to contrast one-sided affection with cold indifference.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from a poem by the Tang dynasty poet Bai Juyi titled 'Visiting the Former Residence of Yuan Lixin.' The lines read: 'Falling flowers silently leave the tree, and the heartless flowing water enters the earth on its own.' Bai Juyi used the image of water flowing away without hesitation to convey the inevitability of loss and the indifference of nature to human longing. Over time, the phrase became a common idiom for describing time or circumstances that pass without regard for human feelings.
💡 Example Usage
岁月如流水无情，转眼间少年已生白发。
Time flows on as heartlessly as running water, and in the blink of an eye the youth has grown white hair.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 流水无情
- Pinyin: liú shuǐ wú qíng
- Literal Translation: flowing, water, no, feeling
- Category: Philosophy
- Characters: 4