昙花一现
tán huā yī xiàn
a flash in the pan
Character by character
昙tán
night-blooming cereus
night-blooming cereus
花huā
flower
flower
一yī
one
one
现xiàn
appearance
appearance
Example
秦朝虽然强大，却只是昙花一现。
The Qin was mighty, but only a flash in the pan.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
The 昙花 blooms for a few hours at night.
Learn this in Lesson 75 · HSK 6–7: 朝代一览 (The dynasties at a glance)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. This lesson is free.
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