弱水三千,只取一瓢飲
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Chinese[edit]
Ruo Shui | three | thousand | 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[edit]
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[edit]
Idiom[edit]
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