During the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC-476 BC)， Yang Chuwen， a senior official of the Jin State， had gone to Wei State on a mission of friendly inquiries， and on his return passed by Ning City of the Lu State. A person named Ning Ying in the Ning City took the chance to throw himself into his path， in the hope that he could serve as an official in the Jin State with Yang Chuwen’s patronage.
They walked for several days， but when they reached the Wen area Ning Ying suddenly disappeared. Yang Chuwen had no idea where Ning Ying had gone.
The explanation was that Ning Ying felt that Yang Chuwen had behaved badly and so returned home.
His wife did not know why and asked him， “Didn’t you want to follow Yang Chuwen to the Jin State and why did you return after only going half way？”
He replied， “Yang Chuwen is self-opinionated and extreme. Moreover， he likes talking big， painting the devil blacker than he is， and does not do real things. The person of this kind has all his goods in the window， and talks cleverly but is not prudent. He makes it very easy to contract enmity with others. He will probably not die a natural death because of these shortcomings. I was afraid I would not share in any advantages he might secure，but would most definitely be caught up in his difficulties， and so I left him.”
A year later， Yang Chuwen was killed.
his story comes from FifthYearofthe ReignofEmperorWengong in Zuozhuan (MasterZuo’sSpringandAutumnAnnals). The Chinese character “华” (magnificent)， is the same as “花” (flower). The idiom originally meant a flower without bearing fruit. Later it was used to describe a person or thing that is good in appearance， but worthless inside.
