諺語 · a single proverb
海納百川
Simplified: 海纳百川
What does 海納百川 (hǎi nà bǎi chuān) mean?
海納百川 (hǎi nà bǎi chuān) is a four-character classical idiom (chéngyǔ 成語). Word for word it reads "sea accepts a hundred rivers." In use it means: The sea accepts all rivers; have an inclusive and broad-minded nature. 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 Dragon.
Literally: "sea accepts a hundred rivers."
The reading
The sea has no opinion about which river it receives-the muddy or the clear, the great or the small-and this indifference is not emptiness but capacity. What can receive everything without losing its nature is not nothing but everything, concentrated. Breadth of spirit is measured not by what it will take in but by what it will not exclude.
What kind of proverb it is
Source Lin Zexu 林則徐 couplet (Qing Dynasty statesman)
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 Humility & Self-Mastery, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Dragon, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.
Questions
Is 海納百川 a real Chinese proverb?
Yes. 海納百川 (hǎi nà bǎi chuān) is a four-character classical idiom (chéngyǔ 成語), and it comes from Lin Zexu 林則徐 couplet (Qing Dynasty statesman). 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 海納百川?
In Mandarin it is hǎi nà bǎi chuān. Read the pinyin above each character to follow the tones, or press the speaker beside the calligraphy to hear your browser read 海納百川 aloud in Mandarin.