諺語 · a single proverb
蜻蜓點水
Simplified: 蜻蜓点水
What does 蜻蜓點水 (qīng tíng diǎn shuǐ) mean?
蜻蜓點水 (qīng tíng diǎn shuǐ) is a four-character classical idiom (chéngyǔ 成語). Word for word it reads "A dragonfly skimming the surface of the water." In use it means: Touching on something superficially without going deep. A light, brief, uncommitted engagement with a subject or task. 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 Rabbit.
Literally: "A dragonfly skimming the surface of the water.."
The reading
The dragonfly touches the water and lifts away, and the pond barely notices. There is a kind of attention that works this way: it arrives, it makes contact, and it is gone before anything has changed. Depth requires staying. It requires letting the water close over you, even briefly, even uncomfortably. The surface is safe, but nothing of consequence lives there.
What kind of proverb it is
Source Classical literary idiom, Tang Dynasty poetry imagery
Sits beside
井底之蛙
jǐng dǐ zhī wā
Someone with an extremely narrow view of the world, who mistakes the small circle of sky above the well for the whole sky.
冰凍三尺，非一日之寒
bīng dòng sān chǐ, fēi yī rì zhī hán
Nothing deep-a skill, a habit, a ruin-forms overnight.
心急吃不了熱豆腐
xīn jí chī bù liǎo rè dòu fu
Impatience will not speed things up.
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 Rabbit, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.
Questions
Is 蜻蜓點水 a real Chinese proverb?
Yes. 蜻蜓點水 (qīng tíng diǎn shuǐ) is a four-character classical idiom (chéngyǔ 成語), and it comes from Classical literary idiom, Tang Dynasty poetry imagery. 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 蜻蜓點水?
In Mandarin it is qīng tíng diǎn shuǐ. Read the pinyin above each character to follow the tones, or press the speaker beside the calligraphy to hear your browser read 蜻蜓點水 aloud in Mandarin.