隔岸觀火

Chinese

to separate; to stand or lie between; to divide
to separate; to stand or lie between; to divide; to cut off
 
bank; shore; beach
bank; shore; beach; coast
 
to look at; to watch; to observe
to look at; to watch; to observe; to behold; Taoist monastery
 
fire; angry; fierce
fire; angry; fierce; fiery; thriving
 
trad. (隔岸觀火) 隔 岸 觀 火
simp. (隔岸观火) 隔 岸 观 火
Literally: “to watch the fires burning across the river”.

Etymology

From Liang Qichao's famous editorial In Condemnation of Onlookers:

天下最可厭、可憎、可鄙之人，莫過於旁觀者。旁觀者，如立於東岸，觀西岸之火災，而望其紅光以為樂。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
天下最可厌、可憎、可鄙之人，莫过于旁观者。旁观者，如立于东岸，观西岸之火灾，而望其红光以为乐。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]
From: 1900, 梁啟超,《呵旁觀者文》
Tiānxià zuì kěyàn, kězēng, kěbǐ zhī rén, mòguòyú pángguānzhě. Pángguānzhě, rú lì yú dōng'àn, guān xī'àn zhī huǒzāi, ér wàng qí hóngguāng yǐwéi yuè. [Pinyin]
The most detestable, loathsome, and contemptible beings under heaven are none other than the bystanders. They perch on the eastern shore, gazing at the western bank engulfed in flames, finding perverse delight in the crimson glow of destruction.

Pronunciation

Idiom

隔岸觀火

  1. (figurative) to delay entering the fray until all others have been exhausted by fighting amongst themselves
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