This idiom comes from The Zuo Commentary · Duke Wen 5th Year. During the Spring and Autumn Period， an official named Yang Chufu of the State of Jin was sent as an envoy to the State of Wei. On his way back he passed by Ningyi(present-day Huojia County of Henan Province). He stayed in an inn. The innkeeper named Ying， filled with admiration at Yang's striking appearance and easy manner， and told his wife: \"I have been longing for a noble man for shelter for many years， but I can't realize my wishes before. Today Yang is the man that I am looking forward to， so I am determined to follow him.\"

After Yang consented to the innkeeper's request， they went together.On the way，they dragged in irrelevant matters and kept no secrets from each other， but without any major principle. Then the innkeeper changed his mind when they were just to go out of the Ningyi County， and he said goodbye to Yang and went back home.

His wife astonished and said: \"You have met a noble man that you are looking for， but why are you back now?\" He answered: \"I thought he was a man of striking appearance and enjoyed my trust but who would have thoughthealwaysusedvulgarlanguageinour conversations. If I follow him， not only can I receive nothing benefical but also will suffer the bad influence， so I can't follow him.\" In the innkeeper's eyes， Yang Chufu is flashy without substance.

Originally it describes only blossom without fruits. Now we use it as a metaphor to indicate that one looks impressive but lacks real worth， or looking great learning outside， in fact empty inside.

此語出自《左傳·文公五年》。春秋時(shí)期，晉國大夫陽處父出使去魏國，回來時(shí)路過寧邑(今河南省獲嘉縣)，住在一家旅店中。店主姓贏，看見陽處父一表人才，舉止不凡，十分佩服。于是和他妻子商議說：“我多年來就想投奔一位高尚的人，但總找不到合適的人，今天看來這個(gè)陽處父是我中意的人，我決心跟隨他!”

店主后來得到了陽處父的同意，跟隨他而去。一路上兩人東拉西扯，無話不談，可大道理一句也沒談。剛走，到寧邑縣城邊，店主就改變了主意，和陽處父分手回去了。

他妻子見他又折回，就問他：“你好不容易遇到一個(gè)合適的人，怎么又回來了?”店主卻說：“我看他長(zhǎng)得一表人才，以為可以信賴，誰知交談中聽他所說的話卻很討厭。我跟他去受不到什么教育，反受到壞的影響，所以我不能隨他去了!”這陽處父在店主心目中，成了個(gè)“華而不實(shí)”的人。

此典原意形容只開花，不結(jié)果。后來用以比喻外表好看，而無實(shí)際內(nèi)容，也形容表面上看很有學(xué)問，而實(shí)際腹中空空的人。