The mountains are originally worry-free, but their heads are white because of the snow. The waters are originally worry-free, but they are wrinkled by the wind.
It comes from Li Wenfu, a native of the Qing Dynasty. When Li was young, he traveled with his teacher, and the teacher pointed out that the snow-covered peaks came here. The first couplet,
"The green mountains never grow old, but their heads are white as snow"
Li lowered his head and saw that the water in the pond was wrinkled by the wind, so he wrote the second couplet.
"The green water is worry-free, but the wind wrinkles the face"
The green mountains are not old, but are snow-white, and the green water is worry-free, but the wind wrinkles the face. It comes from "Couplets with His Teacher" written by Li Wenfu in the Qing Dynasty. When he was young, he traveled with his teacher. The teacher pointed out the snow-covered mountain peaks to try the first couplet. Li lowered his head and meditated, and saw a pool of clear water wrinkled by the wind, and realized the second couplet.
Translation: Using anthropomorphism, the mountain turns out to be ageless, but because of the white snow on the top of the mountain, it looks like it has a gray head. It is a metaphor for the white snow falling on the top of the green mountain. Looking from a distance, it looks like white hair; the breeze blows on the green water, causing ripples and the water surface frowns. There is nothing to worry about in water, because it is as calm as a mirror without any wrinkles. But when the wind blows by, it creates ripples, just like wrinkles.
The author uses personification to express, Cleverly using the similarity between water waves and people's "wrinkled faces" and the similarity between white snow and "white heads", the artistic conception is very beautiful, vivid and creative. The two sentences reflect the author's sorrow and troubles, and it is a metaphor for the outside world. reasons to change yourself.
Extended information:
Appreciation
The original couplet should be: The green mountains are not old, but they are white-headed. The green water is worry-free, but its face is wrinkled by the wind.
In fact, both metaphor and personification are used here, but I personally feel that the first sentence is more subtle from a rhetorical point of view.
Both sentences emphasize why and what changes in the expression of emotion, and the changes in emotional color also range from joy to sadness. Immortality turns into worry and graying of the head, worry-free turns into wrinkled face with worry, so the emphasis is on giving, and a more appropriate emotional expression should be a kind of dedication from the elders to the younger ones without expecting anything in return, such as a mother to her son.
I personally feel that it is not appropriate to use it in the relationship between men and women, because the relationship between men and women is mostly mutual, and the emotional color is also slightly inappropriate compared with the relationship between men and women that need to echo each other. The most important thing is that the two words "white head" and "wrinkle face" mostly mean the passage of time. They describe the traces left by the years caused by long-term efforts, so in my humble opinion, they are mostly used to express parents or grandparents. Waiting for the elders to show their hard work and selfless dedication to the younger generations. The emotional tone is sad but slightly eulogizing and grateful.