諺語 · a single proverb
杞人憂天
Simplified: 杞人忧天
What does 杞人憂天 (qǐ rén yōu tiān) mean?
杞人憂天 (qǐ rén yōu tiān) is a four-character classical idiom (chéngyǔ 成語). Word for word it reads "the man from Qi worries about the sky falling." In use it means: Worrying about things that are extremely unlikely or beyond your control. The sky is not falling. Your anxiety does not prevent anything. It just prevents you from sleeping. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Earth note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Goat.
Literally: "the man from Qi worries about the sky falling."
The reading
The sky has been up there for four billion years. The man from Qi worries it will fall today. He is not irrational. He is just applying rationality to the wrong problem. The real danger is never the sky. It is the hours he lost to the sky while the actual problems waited quietly by the door.
What kind of proverb it is
Source Liezi 列子, Tian Rui 天瑞篇
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 Nature, Seasons & Health, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Goat, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.
Questions
Is 杞人憂天 a real Chinese proverb?
Yes. 杞人憂天 (qǐ rén yōu tiān) is a four-character classical idiom (chéngyǔ 成語), and it comes from Liezi 列子, Tian Rui 天瑞篇. 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 杞人憂天?
In Mandarin it is qǐ rén yōu tiān. Read the pinyin above each character to follow the tones, or press the speaker beside the calligraphy to hear your browser read 杞人憂天 aloud in Mandarin.