See also: 杯水车薪

Chinese

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drinkware; cup; glass water; river
vehicle on land; car; machine
vehicle on land; car; machine; to shape with a lathe
 
fuel; salary
trad. (杯水車薪)
simp. (杯水车薪)
Literally: “to use a cup of water to put out a burning cart full of firewood”.

Etymology

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From Mencius (《孟子·告子上》):

孟子:「不仁杯水車薪不仁而已。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
孟子:「不仁杯水车薪不仁而已。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: Mencius, c. 4th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
Mèngzǐ yuē: “Rén zhī shèng bùrén yě, yóu shuǐ shèng huǒ. Jīn zhī wéi rén zhě, yóu yǐ yī bēi shuǐ, jiù yī chē xīn zhī huǒ yě; bù xī, zé wèi zhī shuǐ bù shèng huǒ, cǐ yòu yǔ yú bùrén zhī shèn zhě yě. Yì zhōng bì wáng éryǐ yǐ.” [Pinyin]
Mencius said, "Benevolence subdues its opposite just as water subdues fire. Those, however, who now-a-days practice benevolence do it as if with one cup of water they could save a whole wagon-load of fuel which was on fire, and when the flames were not extinguished, were to say that water cannot subdue fire. This conduct, moreover, greatly encourages those who are not benevolent. The final issue will simply be this: the loss of that small amount of benevolence."

Pronunciation

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Idiom

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杯水車薪

  1. too inadequate and useless; to no avail