諺語 · a single proverb
水滴石穿
What does 水滴石穿 (shuǐ dī shí chuān) mean?
水滴石穿 (shuǐ dī shí chuān) is a four-character classical idiom (chéngyǔ 成語). Word for word it reads "dripping water pierces stone." In use it means: Persistent small effort will overcome any obstacle in time. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Water note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Ox.
Literally: "dripping water pierces stone."
The reading
No single drop believes it is doing anything to the stone, and that is exactly why the stone loses. You are underestimating the small thing you do daily because you can see it up close. Come back in a year and put your finger in the hollow you made.
The story
The idea appears in the ancient 尸子 and is fixed in the Song collection 鶴林玉露, where a magistrate reasons that a single coin a day becomes a thousand in a thousand days, just as dripping water bores through stone. No single drop believes it is doing anything, which is exactly why the stone loses.
Pick the one small practice you can repeat without fail, and let its boringness be the point. The stone does not notice any single drop, so stop measuring today and come back in a year to feel the hollow you made.
What kind of proverb it is
Source 尸子; 鶴林玉露
Sits beside
Keep reading
Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in Perseverance & the Long Road, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Ox, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Tiger.
Questions
Is 水滴石穿 a real Chinese proverb?
Yes. 水滴石穿 (shuǐ dī shí chuān) is a four-character classical idiom (chéngyǔ 成語), and it comes from 尸子; 鶴林玉露. It is living Chinese heritage, given here with per-character pinyin and its source so you can trust the line, not a phrase invented in English.
How do you pronounce 水滴石穿?
In Mandarin it is shuǐ dī shí chuān. Read the pinyin above each character to follow the tones, or press the speaker beside the calligraphy to hear your browser read 水滴石穿 aloud in Mandarin.