井底之蛙

Chinese

FWOTD – 5 April 2019

		warn; well	background; bottom; base background; bottom; base; (possessive part.); (subor. part.)	's; him/her/it; this	frog
trad. (井底之蛙)		井	底	之	蛙
simp. #(井底之蛙)		井	底	之	蛙
Literally: “a frog at the bottom of a well (who can only see a small part of the sky through the opening)”.

Etymology

From Zhuangzi:

井鼃不可以語於海者，拘於虛也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

---

井鼃不可以语于海者，拘于虚也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Zhuangzi, circa 3^rd – 2^nd centuries BCE

Jǐngwā bù kěyǐ yù yú hǎi zhě, jū yú xū yě. [Pinyin]

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 often been replaced with 蛙 (wā).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): jǐngdǐzhīwā

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧㄥˇ ㄉㄧˇ ㄓ ㄨㄚ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zeng² dai² zi¹ waa¹

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: jǐngdǐzhīwā [Phonetic: jíngdǐzhīwā]
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄥˇ ㄉㄧˇ ㄓ ㄨㄚ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jǐngdǐjhihwa
    • Wade–Giles: ching³-ti³-chih¹-wa¹
    • Yale: jǐng-dǐ-jr̄-wā
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jiingdiijyua
    • Palladius: цзиндичжива (czindičživa)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕiŋ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ti²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ wä⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zeng² dai² zi¹ waa¹
    • Yale: jéng dái jī wā
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzeng² dai² dzi¹ waa¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: zéng² dei² ji¹ wa¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sɛːŋ³⁵ tɐi̯³⁵ t͡siː⁵⁵ waː⁵⁵/

Idiom

(deprecated template usage) 井底之蛙

1. a person of very limited outlook and experience

   • 汝乃井底之蛙，安知玄奧乎！ [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     汝乃井底之蛙，安知玄奥乎！ [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, circa 14^th century CE

     Rǔ nǎi jǐngdǐzhīwā, ān zhī xuán'ào hū! [Pinyin]

     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!

   • 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。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, 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。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: Cao Xueqin, Dream of the Red Chamber, mid-18^th century CE

     Kě zhī wǒ jǐngdǐzhīwā, chéngrìjia zhǐ shuō xiànzài de zhè jǐ ge rén shì yǒuyīwú'èr de. [Pinyin]

     [You] can tell that I am a frog at the bottom of a well; all day, all [I] talk about is that these several people are so unique.

Synonyms

• (Hakka) 井肚蛤蟆
• (Min Nan) 鼓井水雞／鼓井水鸡, 涵空龜／涵空龟

Related terms

• 坐井觀天／坐井观天 (zuòjǐngguāntiān)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (井底之蛙):

• → Korean: 정저지와(井底之蛙) (jeongjeojiwa)

Others:

• Japanese: 井(い)の中(なか)の蛙大海(かわずたいかい)を知(し)らず (i no naka no kawazu taikai o shirazu), 井(い)の中(なか)の蛙(かわず) (i no naka no kawazu), 井底(せいてい)の蛙(あ) (seitei no a)