君子之交淡如水

Chinese

junzi; man of virtue; high-minded person
junzi; man of virtue; high-minded person; noble person; superior person
 
 's; him/her/it; this
to deliver; to turn over; to make friends
to deliver; to turn over; to make friends; to intersect (lines); to pay (money)
 
insipid; diluted; weak
insipid; diluted; weak; light in colour; tasteless; fresh; indifferent; nitrogen
 
 as (if); such as water; river
trad. (君子之交淡如水) 君子 之 交 淡 如 水
simp. #(君子之交淡如水) 君子 之 交 淡 如 水

Etymology

From Zhuangzi:

且君子之交淡若水，小人之交甘若醴。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad. and simp.]
From: Zhuangzi, circa 3rd – 2nd centuries BCE
Qiě jūnzǐ zhī jiāo dàn ruò shuǐ, xiǎorén zhī jiāo gān ruò lǐ. [Pinyin]
Moreover, the intercourse of superior men is tasteless as water, while that of mean men is sweet as new wine.

Pronunciation

Proverb

君子之交淡如水

  1. True friendship between two men of accomplishment need not be overly demonstrative.

Antonyms

  • 小人之交甘若醴

Descendants

  • → Japanese: 君子の交わりは淡きこと水の如し (kunshi no majiwari wa awaki koto mizu no gotoshi) (calque)
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.