📖 Meaning
The willows seem to weep and the flowers appear to grieve. It describes a desolate, sorrowful scene in nature that mirrors a person's inner melancholy and heartbreak, often used to evoke the pain of separation or lost love.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from a ci poem titled 'Night Boat Journey: Warmth Enters New Branches, Wind Rises Again' (《夜行船·暖入新梢风又起》) by Lu Zugao (卢祖皋), a poet of the Southern Song dynasty. In the poem, the speaker recalls a past moment of parting, saying 'willows wept and flowers grieved, my soul and dreams traveled far for you' (柳啼花怨，魂梦为君迢递). The line personifies nature as sharing in the speaker's sorrow, and over time the phrase became a set idiom for a scene of poignant desolation.
💡 Example Usage
旧地重游，只见柳啼花怨，令人心生悲凉。
Revisiting the old place, all I saw were weeping willows and grieving flowers, filling my heart with sorrow.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 柳啼花怨
- Pinyin: liǔ tí huā yuàn
- Literal Translation: willow, weep, flower, grieve
- Category: Emotion
- Characters: 4