有意栽花花不发，无心插柳柳成阴
Traditional: 有意栽花花不發，無心插柳柳成陰Dictionary entry
lit. you plant a garden and the flowers do not bloom, you poke a stick in the mud and it grows into a tree
What does 有意栽花花不发，无心插柳柳成阴 mean?
有意栽花花不发，无心插柳柳成阴 (yǒu yì zāi huā huā bù fā , wú xīn chā liǔ liǔ chéng yīn) has the following dictionary meaning.
1lit. you plant a garden and the flowers do not bloom, you poke a stick in the mud and it grows into a tree
2fig. things do not always turn out as one would expect
3well-laid plans may fail, and success may come where you least expect it
Character breakdown
Open each character to see its own meanings and vocabulary links.
有yǒuto have; there is · (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional)意yì(bound form) idea; thought; meaning; sense · (bound form) intention; feeling; inclination; state of mind栽zāito plant; to grow · to insert; to erect (e.g. a bus stop sign)花Huāsurname Hua不bùno; not so · (bound form) not; un-发fāto send out · to show (one's feeling)无móused in 南無|南无[na1 mo2]心xīnheart · mind
Reviewed examples
No reviewed example dialogues yet. This page only shows verified dictionary data until a context lesson is published.
How to pronounce 有意栽花花不发，无心插柳柳成阴
有意栽花花不发，无心插柳柳成阴
Tap to hear Mandarin.
Base dictionary data: CC-CEDICT · CC BY-SA 4.0.