冬去春来 (dōng qù chūn lái) — winter passes and spring comes; (fig.) the cycle of seasons; things will improve after hardship

Definition

Four-character idiom meaning 'winter goes, spring comes' — used literally for the seasonal cycle and figuratively to mean hard times will pass and things will get better.

idiom
winter passes and spring comes(fig.) the cycle of seasonsthings will improve after hardship

Examples

  • 冬去春来，。
    dōng qù chūn lái, Dà zì rán yòu huī fù le shēng jī.
    Winter passes and spring comes; nature regains its vitality.
  • 冬去春来，。
    dōng qù chūn lái, Wǒ xiāng xìn gōng sī yí dìng néng dù guò nán guān.
    After winter comes spring — I believe the company will surely get through the tough times.
  • 冬去春来，。
    Rén shēng jiù xiàng dōng qù chūn lái, yǒu dī gǔ yě yǒu gāo fēng.
    Life is like winter passing and spring coming — there are lows and highs.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

冬去winter passes
冬dōngwinter去qùpasses
主谓Subject + predicate
春来spring comes
春chūnspring来láicomes
主谓Subject + predicate

「冬」 passes and 「春」 comes, so the seasons turn and hardship gives way to renewal.

Characters in this word

No reliable origin is recorded for this character.

Open 冬 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

去 pairs 大, a man, with 口, a mouth or object. The evidence reads this as a man leaving a place, a man opening his mouth, or a cover over an object.

Open 去 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
艸艸cǎograss
日日rìsun
Sound part声符shēngfú
屯
屯tún春chūn
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

春 combines 艸 (grass) and 日 (sun) with 屯, which supplies the sound and is described as a swollen sprout.

Open 春 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 來; 来 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 來 shows a wheat plant: a central ear, upward leaves, and downward stem and roots. The simplified 来 is a later shorthand.

Open 来 →

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