弱水三千,只取一瓢飲
Chinese
only; merely; just only; merely; just; but |
to take; to get; to choose to take; to get; to choose; to fetch |
one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.) |
dipper; ladle | drink | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
trad. (弱水三千,只取一瓢飲) | 弱水三千 | , | 只 | 取 | 一 | 瓢 | 飲 | |
simp. (弱水三千,只取一瓢饮) | 弱水三千 | , | 只 | 取 | 一 | 瓢 | 饮 |
Etymology
From: Chapter 91 of the Dream of the Red Chamber
- Literally: (although) the Ruo River is three thousand li long, one only drinks one ladle worth of water from it.
- Later on, this phrase was used as a metaphor for choosing only one companion out of all potential mates.
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin:
- Zhuyin: ㄖㄨㄛˋ ㄕㄨㄟˇ ㄙㄢ ㄑㄧㄢ , ㄓˇ ㄑㄩˇ ㄧ ㄆㄧㄠˊ ㄧㄣˇ
- Tongyong Pinyin: ruòshuěisancian, jhǐh cyǔ yipiáo yǐn
- Wade–Giles: jo4-shui3-san1-chʻien1, chih3 chʻü3 i1-pʻiao2 yin3
- Yale: rwò-shwěi-sān-chyān-, jř chyǔ yī-pyáu yǐn
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ruohshoeisanchian, jyy cheu ipyau yiin
- Palladius: жошуйсаньцянь, чжи цюй ипяо инь (žošujsanʹcjanʹ, čži cjuj ipjao inʹ)
- Sinological IPA (key): /ʐu̯ɔ⁵¹ ʂu̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ sän⁵⁵ t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩²¹⁴⁻³⁵ t͡ɕʰy²¹⁴⁻²¹ i⁵⁵⁻⁵¹ pʰi̯ɑʊ̯³⁵ in²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
- (Standard Chinese)+
Idiom
(deprecated template usage) 弱水三千,只取一瓢飲
- there are so many potential lovers to choose from, but you only pick one from among those potential lovers
Categories:
- Mandarin words containing 一 undergoing tone sandhi to the fourth tone
- Chinese lemmas
- Mandarin lemmas
- Chinese idioms
- Mandarin idioms
- Chinese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Chinese terms spelled with 弱
- Chinese terms spelled with 水
- Chinese terms spelled with 三
- Chinese terms spelled with 千
- Chinese terms spelled with 只
- Chinese terms spelled with 取
- Chinese terms spelled with 一
- Chinese terms spelled with 瓢
- Chinese terms spelled with 飲