以卵投石

Chinese

		to 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

From 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.]

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  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.]

  From: Mozi, c. 4^th 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.”

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yǐluǎntóushí

  (Zhuyin): ㄧˇ ㄌㄨㄢˇ ㄊㄡˊ ㄕˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ji⁵ leon² tau⁴ sek⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yǐluǎntóushí [Phonetic: yíluǎntóushí]
    • 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/
• 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/

Idiom

以卵投石

1. 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

• 螳臂當車／螳臂当车 (tángbìdāngchē)

Descendants

• → Vietnamese: lấy trứng chọi đá (calque)