滄海遺珠

Chinese

		vast ocean; large ocean	to lose; to leave behind	pearl; bead
trad. (滄海遺珠)		滄海	遺	珠
simp. (沧海遗珠)		沧海	遗	珠
Literally: “a pearl left in the ocean”.

Etymology

From the comment of Yan Liben about Di Renjie quoted in New Book of Tang:

仲尼稱觀過知仁，君可謂滄海遺珠矣。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]

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仲尼称观过知仁，君可谓沧海遗珠矣。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

From: The New Book of Tang, 1060 CE

Zhòngní chēng guān guò zhī rén, jūn kěwèi cānghǎiyízhū yǐ. [Pinyin]

Confucius said that by observing the mistakes made by a person, it can be known that whether he is kind or not. [Based on what I have observed,] I think that you're like a pearl left in the ocean.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): cānghǎiyízhū

  (Zhuyin): ㄘㄤ ㄏㄞˇ ㄧˊ ㄓㄨ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): cong¹ hoi² wai⁴ zyu¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: cānghǎiyízhū
    • Zhuyin: ㄘㄤ ㄏㄞˇ ㄧˊ ㄓㄨ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: canghǎiyíjhu
    • Wade–Giles: tsʻang¹-hai³-i²-chu¹
    • Yale: tsāng-hǎi-yí-jū
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tsanghaeyiju
    • Palladius: цанхайичжу (canxajičžu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɑŋ⁵⁵ xaɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ i³⁵ ʈ͡ʂu⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: cong¹ hoi² wai⁴ zyu¹
    • Yale: chōng hói wàih jyū
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsong¹ hoi² wai⁴ dzy¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: cong¹ hoi² wei⁴ ju¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɔːŋ⁵⁵ hɔːi̯³⁵ wɐi̯²¹ t͡syː⁵⁵/

Idiom

滄海遺珠

1. a person with talent or something valuable, but is neglected by the society