星星之火,可以燎原
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Chinese[edit]
tiny spot; speck | 's; him/her/it; this | fire; angry; fierce fire; angry; fierce; fiery; thriving |
to set the prairie ablaze | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
trad. (星星之火,可以燎原) | 星星 | 之 | 火 | , | 可以 | 燎原 | |
simp. #(星星之火,可以燎原) | 星星 | 之 | 火 | , | 可以 | 燎原 | |
Literally: “a single spark can start a huge blaze”. |
Etymology[edit]
From the Book of Documents:
- 若火之燎于原,不可嚮邇,其猶可撲滅? [Classical Chinese, trad.]
- From: The Book of Documents, circa 4th – 3rd century BCE
- Ruò huǒ zhī liáo yú yuán, bùkě xiàng'ěr, qí yóu kě pūmiè? [Pinyin]
- When fire is burning the grassland, one (already) cannot stay near it, then how can one put it out?
若火之燎于原,不可向迩,其犹可扑灭? [Classical Chinese, simp.]
Later popularized through a letter from Mao Zedong to Lin Biao (see 星星之火,可以燎原 on the Chinese Wikipedia.Wikipedia zh).
Pronunciation[edit]
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin:
- Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄥ ㄒㄧㄥ ㄓ ㄏㄨㄛˇ , ㄎㄜˇ ㄧˇ ㄌㄧㄠˊ ㄩㄢˊ
- Tongyong Pinyin: singsing jhih huǒ, kěyǐ liáoyuán
- Wade–Giles: hsing1-hsing1 chih1 huo3, kʻo3-i3 liao2-yüan2
- Yale: syīng-syīng jr̄ hwǒ-, kě-yǐ lyáu-ywán
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shingshing jy huoo, keeyii liauyuan
- Palladius: синсин чжи хо, кэи ляоюань (sinsin čži xo, kɛi ljaojuanʹ)
- Sinological IPA (key): /ɕiŋ⁵⁵ ɕiŋ⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ xu̯ɔ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ i²¹⁴⁻²¹ li̯ɑʊ̯³⁵ ɥɛn³⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: sing1 sing1 zi1 fo2, ho2 ji5 liu4 jyun4
- Yale: sīng sīng jī fó, hó yíh lìuh yùhn
- Cantonese Pinyin: sing1 sing1 dzi1 fo2, ho2 ji5 liu4 jyn4
- Guangdong Romanization: xing1 xing1 ji1 fo2, ho2 yi5 liu4 yun4
- Sinological IPA (key): /sɪŋ⁵⁵ sɪŋ⁵⁵ t͡siː⁵⁵ fɔː³⁵ hɔː³⁵ jiː¹³ liːu̯²¹ jyːn²¹/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Proverb[edit]
星星之火,可以燎原
- an insignificant cause can have a massive effect