以卵投石
Chinese
editto use; according to; so as to to use; according to; so as to; in order to; by; with; because; Israel (abbrev.) |
ovum | to throw; to send | rock; stone; 10 pecks | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
trad. (以卵投石) | 以 | 卵 | 投 | 石 | |
simp. #(以卵投石) | 以 | 卵 | 投 | 石 | |
Literally: “to strike a rock with an egg”. |
Etymology
editFrom Mozi:
- 子墨子曰:「吾言足用矣,舍言革思者,是猶舍穫而拾粟也。以其言非吾言者,是猶以卵投石也,盡天下之卵,其石猶是也,不可毀也。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
- From: Mozi, c. 4th century BCE, translated based on Y. P. Mei's version
- Zǐ Mòzǐ yuē: “Wú yán zú yòng yǐ, shě yán gé sī zhě, shì yóu shě huò ér shí sù yě. Yǐ qí yán fēi wú yán zhě, shì yóu yǐluǎntóushí yě, jìn tiānxià zhī luǎn, qí shí yóu shì yě, bùkě huǐ yě.” [Pinyin]
- Mozi said: “My principle is sufficient. To abandon my principle and exercise thought is like abandoning the crop and trying to pick up grains. To refute my principle with one's own principle is like throwing an egg against a boulder. The eggs in the world would be exhausted without doing any harm to the boulder.”
子墨子曰:「吾言足用矣,舍言革思者,是犹舍获而拾粟也。以其言非吾言者,是犹以卵投石也,尽天下之卵,其石犹是也,不可毁也。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
Pronunciation
edit- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin:
- Zhuyin: ㄧˇ ㄌㄨㄢˇ ㄊㄡˊ ㄕˊ
- Tongyong Pinyin: yǐluǎntóushíh
- Wade–Giles: i3-luan3-tʻou2-shih2
- Yale: yǐ-lwǎn-tóu-shŕ
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yiiloantourshyr
- Palladius: илуаньтоуши (iluanʹtouši)
- Sinological IPA (key): /i²¹⁴⁻³⁵ lu̯än²¹⁴⁻²¹ tʰoʊ̯³⁵ ʂʐ̩³⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: ji5 leon2 tau4 sek6
- Yale: yíh léun tàuh sehk
- Cantonese Pinyin: ji5 loen2 tau4 sek9
- Guangdong Romanization: yi5 lên2 teo4 ség6
- Sinological IPA (key): /jiː¹³ lɵn³⁵ tʰɐu̯²¹ sɛːk̚²/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Idiom
edit以卵投石
- Synonym of 以卵擊石/以卵击石 (yǐluǎnjíshí, “to overestimate one's capabilities or to attack a stronger opponent as the weaker side which is sure to end in failure”)
Synonyms
editDescendants
edit- → Vietnamese: lấy trứng chọi đá (calque)
Categories:
- Literary Chinese terms with quotations
- Chinese lemmas
- Mandarin lemmas
- Cantonese lemmas
- Chinese idioms
- Mandarin idioms
- Cantonese idioms
- Chinese chengyu
- Mandarin chengyu
- Cantonese chengyu
- Chinese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Chinese terms spelled with 以
- Chinese terms spelled with 卵
- Chinese terms spelled with 投
- Chinese terms spelled with 石