星星之火，可以燎原

Chinese

		tiny spot; speck	's; him/her/it; this	fire; angry; fierce fire; angry; fierce; fiery; thriving		can; may; can can; may; can; to be able to	to set the prairie ablaze
trad. (星星之火，可以燎原)		星星	之	火	，	可以	燎原
simp. #(星星之火，可以燎原)		星星	之	火	，	可以	燎原
Literally: “a single spark can start a huge blaze”.

Etymology

From the Book of Documents:

若火之燎于原，不可嚮邇，其猶可撲滅？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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若火之燎于原，不可向迩，其犹可扑灭？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Book of Documents, circa 4^th – 3^rd century BCE

Ruò huǒ zhī liáo yú yuán, bùkě xiàng'ěr, qí yóu kě pūmiè? [Pinyin]

When fire is burning the grassland, one (already) cannot stay near it, then how can one put it out?

Later popularized through a letter from Mao Zedong to Lin Biao (see 星星之火，可以燎原 on the Chinese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^zh).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xīngxīng zhī huǒ, kěyǐ liáoyuán

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄥ ㄒㄧㄥ ㄓ ㄏㄨㄛˇ , ㄎㄜˇ ㄧˇ ㄌㄧㄠˊ ㄩㄢˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sing¹ sing¹ zi¹ fo², ho² ji⁵ liu⁴ jyun⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xīngxīng zhī huǒ, kěyǐ liáoyuán [Phonetic: xīngxīngzhīhuǒ,kéyǐliáoyuán]
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄥ ㄒㄧㄥ ㄓ ㄏㄨㄛˇ , ㄎㄜˇ ㄧˇ ㄌㄧㄠˊ ㄩㄢˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: singsing jhih huǒ, kěyǐ liáoyuán
    • Wade–Giles: hsing¹-hsing¹ chih¹ huo³, kʻo³-i³ liao²-yüan²
    • Yale: syīng-syīng jr̄ hwǒ-, kě-yǐ lyáu-ywán
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shingshing jy huoo, keeyii liauyuan
    • Palladius: синсин чжи хо, кэи ляоюань (sinsin čži xo, kɛi ljaojuanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕiŋ⁵⁵ ɕiŋ⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ xu̯ɔ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ i²¹⁴⁻²¹ li̯ɑʊ̯³⁵ ɥɛn³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: sing¹ sing¹ zi¹ fo², ho² ji⁵ liu⁴ jyun⁴
    • Yale: sīng sīng jī fó, hó yíh lìuh yùhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sing¹ sing¹ dzi¹ fo², ho² ji⁵ liu⁴ jyn⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: xing¹ xing¹ ji¹ fo², ho² yi⁵ liu⁴ yun⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɪŋ⁵⁵ sɪŋ⁵⁵ t͡siː⁵⁵ fɔː³⁵ hɔː³⁵ jiː¹³ liːu̯²¹ jyːn²¹/

Proverb

星星之火，可以燎原

1. an insignificant cause can have a massive effect

See also

• 星火燎原 (xīnghuǒliáoyuán)
• 燎原之火