南橘北枳 — “Southern oranges, northern trifoliate oranges”
南橘北枳 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Oranges grown south of the Huai River turn into trifoliate oranges (zhǐ) when transplanted north of it. This idiom is a metaphor for how environmental conditions can significantly alter the nature or character of things or people”. Literally, “Southern oranges, northern trifoliate oranges”.
南橘北枳 Pronunciation and Pinyin
南橘北枳 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 南橘北枳
Idioms Related to 南橘北枳
More idioms starting with 南
- nán南rén人jià驾chuán船，，běi北rén人chéng乘mǎ马different people have different skills
- nán南guān冠chǔ楚qiú囚a captive or prisoner of war
- nán南běi北dōng东xī西all directions; everywhere
- nán南qù去běi北lái来to come and go
- nán南shān山zhī之shòu寿long life like the South Mountain
- nán南shān山kě可yí移Absolutely firm and unchangeable
- nán南shān山kě可yí移，，pàn判bù不kě可yáo摇An unchangeable, firm judgment
- nán南shān山kě可yí移，，cǐ此àn案bù不dòng动This case is final and unchangeable
- nán南shān山yǒu有niǎo鸟，，běi北shān山zhāng张luo罗bark up the wrong tree
- nán南shān山tiě铁àn案a settled and unalterable case
- nán南shān山yǐn隐bào豹wise person living in seclusion
- nán南zhōu州guān冠miǎn冕outstanding talent from the southern region
Recommended tools
Stroke Order Animator
Turn a Chinese character or sentence into a GIF or MP4
Open the tool →
Writing Worksheets
Printable tracing sheets with a QR learning companion
Open the tool →
Chinese Text Image Generator
Create PNGs with pinyin, highlight character parts or remove strokes
Open the tool →
Character Highlight Animator
Choose character parts and animate their colors, together or in stroke order
Open the tool →Questions about 南橘北枳
What does 南橘北枳 mean?
南橘北枳 (nán jú běi zhǐ) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Oranges grown south of the Huai River turn into trifoliate oranges (zhǐ) when transplanted north of it. This idiom is a metaphor for how environmental conditions can significantly alter the nature or character of things or people”.
How do you pronounce 南橘北枳?
南橘北枳 is pronounced nán jú běi zhǐ in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 南橘北枳 literally mean?
Literally, 南橘北枳 means “Southern oranges, northern trifoliate oranges”. It is used to mean “Oranges grown south of the Huai River turn into trifoliate oranges (zhǐ) when transplanted north of it. This idiom is a metaphor for how environmental conditions can significantly alter the nature or character of things or people”.
What is the Chinese definition of 南橘北枳?
枳：落叶灌木，味苦酸，球形。也叫枸橘。南方之橘移植淮河之北就会变成枳。比喻同一物种因环境条件不同而发生变异。