虛懷若谷

Chinese

to seem; like; as
to seem; like; as; if
 
valley
trad. (虛懷若谷) 虛懷
simp. (虚怀若谷) 虚怀
Literally: “receptive as an echoing canyon”.

Etymology

From Tao Te Ching, Chapter 15:

[Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
[Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
From: Tao Te Ching, 4th century BCE
Dūn xī, qí ruò pǔ, kuàng xī, qí ruò gǔ. [Pinyin]
Simple and natural like the uncarved block;
Vacant and deep like a valley.

Alternatively, from Chapter 41:

上德 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad. and simp.]
From: Tao Te Ching, 4th century BCE
Shàngdé ruò gǔ. [Pinyin]
The great virtue resembles the valley.

Where Wang Bi annotated,

[Literary Chinese, trad.]
怀 [Literary Chinese, simp.]
Bù dé qí dé, wú suǒ huái yě. [Pinyin]
The truly virtuous ones do not regard his virtue as a possession; thus he harboured nothing within.

Pronunciation


Idiom

虛懷若谷

  1. (figurative) modest and open-minded