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牡丹虽好，终须绿叶扶持

mǔ dan suī hǎo , zhōng xū lǜ yè fú chídictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
Although the peony is beautiful, it depends entirely on help from the green leaves (idiom). However brilliant you may be, you can't do anything without support from others.
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-0734c5451e4c11e5. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

牡丹雖好，終須綠葉扶持 牡丹虽好，终须绿叶扶持 [mu3 dan5 sui1 hao3 , zhong1 xu1 lu:4 ye4 fu2 chi2] /Although the peony is beautiful, it depends entirely on help from the green leaves (idiom). However brilliant you may be, you can't do anything without support from others./

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 牡丹雖好，終須綠葉扶持

  • 牡
    mǔ

    (of a bird, animal or plant) male / key / hills

  • 丹
    dān

    red / pellet / powder / cinnabar

  • 虽
    suī

    although / even though

  • 好
    hǎo

    good / appropriate / proper / all right! / (before a verb) easy to / (before a verb) good to / (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so / (verb complement indicating completion) / (of two people) close / on intimate terms / (after a form of address) hello

    hào

    to be fond of / to have a tendency to / to be prone to

  • 终
    zhōng

    end / finish

  • 须
    xū

    must / to have to / to wait / beard / mustache / feeler (of an insect etc) / tassel

  • 绿
    lù

    used in names

    lǜ

    green / (slang) (derived from 綠帽子|绿帽子[lǜ mào zi]) to cheat on (one's spouse or boyfriend or girlfriend)

  • 叶
    xié

    to be in harmony

    yè

    leaf / page / lobe / (historical) period / classifier for small boats

    Yè

    surname Ye

  • 扶
    fú

    to support with the hand / to help sb up / to support oneself by holding onto something / to help

  • 持
    chí

    to hold / to grasp / to support / to maintain / to persevere / to manage / to run (i.e. administer) / to control

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.