Definition

1. Noun:
   • Cotton-rose hibiscus: A plant species, specifically Hibiscus mutabilis, known for its large, beautiful flowers that change color, typically white in the morning and pink or red by evening.
   • (Archaic; literary) A fair lady, a beautiful woman: Used in classical Vietnamese literature as a metaphor for a beautiful woman, comparing her delicate and transient beauty to that of the flower.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Plant):
  • Trong vườn nhà tôi có một cây phù dung. (There is a cotton-rose hibiscus tree in my garden.)
  • Hoa phù dung thay đổi màu sắc trong ngày. (The cotton-rose hibiscus flower changes color during the day.)
• Noun (Literary metaphor):
  • Thi nhân thường ví người đẹp như đóa phù dung. (Poets often compare a beautiful woman to a cotton-rose hibiscus blossom.)

Advanced Usage

• "Ả phù dung": This is an archaic term with two distinct meanings:
  • (Literary) A beautiful woman, a fair lady.

    • Trong thơ cổ, "ả phù dung" thường là hình ảnh đầy ám ảnh. (In classical poetry, the "fair lady" is often an haunting image.)
  • (Obsolete) Opium. This usage is historical and no longer common.

    • Trong một số văn bản cũ, "ả phù dung" còn để chỉ thuốc phiện. (In some old texts, "ả phù dung" also referred to opium.)

Variants and Related Words

• Cây phù dung: The cotton-rose hibiscus plant/tree.
• Hoa phù dung: The cotton-rose hibiscus flower.
• Bông phù dung: A Southern Vietnamese variant for "hoa phù dung".

Synonyms

• Hoa bông bụp: A common name for hibiscus flowers in general.
• Mỹ nhân (noun): A beauty, a beautiful woman (the direct term, while is the metaphorical one).
• Giai nhân (noun; literary): A belle, a fair lady.

Related Idioms/Phrases

• "Sớm nở tối tàn như hoa phù dung": (To bloom in the morning and wither by evening like the cotton-rose hibiscus.) An idiom describing something of short-lived or ephemeral beauty.
  • Vẻ đẹp ấy sớm nở tối tàn như hoa phù dung. (That beauty was as fleeting as the cotton-rose hibiscus.)

1. Cotton-rose hibiscus.
2. (cũ; văn chương) Fair, fair maid, fair lady
   • ả phù dung
     Opium