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春生，夏长，秋收，冬藏

chūn shēng , xià zhǎng , qiū shōu , dōng cángdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
sow in spring, develop in summer, harvest in autumn, store in winter (idiom)
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-f93e6ebacb650bd1. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

春生，夏長，秋收，冬藏 春生，夏长，秋收，冬藏 [chun1 sheng1 , xia4 zhang3 , qiu1 shou1 , dong1 cang2] /sow in spring, develop in summer, harvest in autumn, store in winter (idiom)/

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: 春生，夏長，秋收，冬藏

  • 春
    chūn

    spring (season) / gay / joyful / youthful / love / lust / life

    Chūn

    surname Chun

  • 生
    shēng

    to grow / to give birth / to produce / to be born / to arise / to occur / to light (a fire) / to live / to be alive / life / raw / uncooked / unprocessed / unfamiliar / strange / (bound form) student / person engaged in a field / (bound form) male role in traditional opera / (bound form) life / lifetime / (bound form) means of livelihood / (bound form) very / intensely (as in 生疼[shēng téng]) / (bound form) in a forced manner (as in 生拉硬拽[shēng lā yìng zhuài])

  • 夏
    xià

    summer

    Xià

    the Xia or Hsia dynasty c. 2000 BC / Xia of the Sixteen Kingdoms (407–432) / surname Xia

  • 长
    cháng

    long / (bound form) length / (bound form) strong point / forte / (bound form) to be good at / (literary) surplus / spare (Taiwan pr. [zhàng])

    zhǎng

    chief / head / elder / to grow / to develop / to increase / to enhance

  • 秋
    qiū

    autumn / fall / harvest time / used in 鞦韆|秋千[qiū qiān]

    Qiū

    surname Qiu

  • 收
    shōu

    to receive / to accept / to collect / to put away / to restrain / to stop / in care of (used on address line after name)

  • 冬
    dōng

    winter / (onom.) beating a drum / rat-a-tat

    Dōng

    surname Dong

  • 藏
    cáng

    to conceal / to hide away / to harbor / to store / to collect

    zàng

    storehouse / depository / Buddhist or Taoist scripture

    Zàng

    Tibetan ethnic group / Tibet Autonomous Region (short name for 西藏自治區|西藏自治区[Xī zàng Zì zhì qū])

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.