井底之蛙

Mandarin

simpl. and trad.
井底之蛙

Etymology

Literary Chinese

Literally: a frog at the bottom of a well (who can only see a small part of the sky through the opening)

• c. 370 to 301 BCE:, Zhuangzi, zh:s:莊子/秋水

  井鼃不可以語於海者，拘於虛也。

  A frog in a well would not be able to put into words (the idea) of an ocean. (To the frog, the concept is) confined to the abstract.

Note: 鼃 is an ancient character for frog. In modern times, it has been replaced with 蛙.

Idiom

井底之蛙 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin jǐng dǐ zhī wā)

1. a person of very limited outlook and experience
   • c. 1330 - 1400: Luo Guanzhong, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 113 (三國演義/第113回)

     汝乃井底之蛙，安知玄奧乎！

     You're (like) a frog at the bottom of a well (who can only see part of the sky), how would you know about anything that is profound!

   • 1784: Cao Xueqin, Dream of the Red Chamber, Chapter 49 (紅樓夢/第049回)

     可知我井底之蛙，成日家只說現在的這幾個人是有一無二的。 (trad.)

     可知我井底之蛙，成日家只说现在的这几个人是有一无二的。 (simp.)

     You can tell that I am a frog at the bottom of a well. All day long, we just talk about how these few people are so unique.

Related terms

• trad. 坐井觀天, simpl. 坐井观天

Descendants

• (Japanese) 井の中の蛙大海を知らず

External links

• Google hits: .cn
• Google hits: .tw