| 兰摧玉折 |
lán cuī yù zhé |
premature death of a budding talent / those whom the Gods love die young |
| 兰 |
Lán |
surname Lan / abbr. for Lanzhou 兰州, Gansu |
| 兰 |
lán |
orchid (兰花 Cymbidium goeringii) / fragrant thoroughwort (兰草 Eupatorium fortunei) / lily magnolia (木兰) |
| 摧 |
cuī |
to break / to destroy / to devastate / to ravage / to repress |
| 玉 |
yù |
jade |
| 折 |
shé |
to snap / to break (a stick, a bone etc) / (bound form) to sustain a loss (in business) |
| 折 |
zhē |
to turn sth over / to turn upside down / to tip sth out (of a container) |
| 折 |
zhé |
to break / to fracture / to snap / to suffer loss / to bend / to twist / to turn / to change direction / convinced / to convert into (currency) / discount / rebate / tenth (in price) / classifier for theatrical scenes / to fold / accounts book |
| 折 |
zhé |
variant of 折 / to fold |