冬天的大葱，叶黄根枯心不死冬天的大蔥，葉黃根枯心不死冬天的大葱，葉黃根枯心不死

a winter spring onion: leaves yellow and roots dry, but the heart isn't dead

Saying俗语俗語

Two-part saying歇后语歇後語 · Rarely used now

Meaning: Describes a declining force that looks nearly finished but has not given up and still hopes to revive. Critical.
Wordplay: 心 xīn means both the core of the plant and a person's heart or inner intentions, so 'heart not dead' means refusing to give up.

Sign up for a free account to save sentences and hear them read aloud

Simplified: 冬天的大葱，叶黄根枯心不死
Traditional (Taiwan): 冬天的大蔥，葉黃根枯心不死
Traditional (Hong Kong): 冬天的大葱，葉黃根枯心不死
Pinyin: dōngtiān de dàcōng, Yè huáng gēn kūxīn bù sǐ
Bopomofo: ㄉㄨㄥㄊㄧㄢ ˙ㄉㄜㄉㄚˋ ㄘㄨㄥ，ㄧㄝˋ ㄏㄨㄤˊ ㄍㄣㄎㄨㄒㄧㄣㄅㄨˋ ㄙˇ

Written with HSK 6 vocabulary, at CEFR level B2.

Words in this sentence

Where this sentence is used

Chinese sayings

Sign up for a free Chinese Boost account

Save the words and sentences you find here to your own list, and hear them read aloud. You can export the list to your flashcards whenever you like.

Create a free account

All Chinese example sentences