河边洗黄连，河苦河邊洗黃連，河苦河邊洗黃連，河苦

washing goldthread root by the river: the river is bitter

Saying俗语俗語

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

Meaning: Means 'why bother?' or 'why make yourself suffer for it?', said when something isn't worth the trouble.
Wordplay: 河 (hé, river) puns on 何 (hé, why), so 河苦 sounds like 何苦 'why bother'; 黄连 (huánglián) is a very bitter herb.

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Simplified: 河边洗黄连，河苦
Traditional (Taiwan): 河邊洗黃連，河苦
Pinyin: hébiān xǐ huánglián, hé kǔ
Bopomofo: ㄏㄜˊ ㄅㄧㄢㄒㄧˇ ㄏㄨㄤˊ ㄌㄧㄢˊ，ㄏㄜˊ ㄎㄨˇ

Written with HSK 4 vocabulary, at CEFR level B1.

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