諺語 · a single proverb
心如止水
What does 心如止水 (xīn rú zhǐ shuǐ) mean?
心如止水 (xīn rú zhǐ shuǐ) is a four-character classical idiom (chéngyǔ 成語). Word for word it reads "heart like still water." In use it means: A heart as still and clear as motionless water; profound inner calm. 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 Rat.
Literally: "heart like still water."
The reading
The still water shows the sky perfectly because it has stopped insisting on its own motion. The heart that has reached this quality of calm does not reflect events back at itself but receives them clearly, as they are, undistorted by the turbulence of what the heart is still working out about the world. Still water is the condition for seeing true.
What kind of proverb it is
Source Zhuangzi 莊子·德充符 (Dé Chōng Fú, Fullness of Virtue)
Sits beside
上善若水
shàng shàn ruò shuǐ
The finest virtue is like water, which benefits all things and flows to the low places without contending.
天下之至柔，馳騁天下之至堅
tiān xià zhī zhì róu chí chěng tiān xià zhī zhì jiān
The most yielding force in the world overcomes the most unyielding.
無為不爭，而天下莫能與
wú wéi bù zhēng ér tiān xià mò néng yǔ
By not contending, one cannot be overcome.
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 The Way of Water, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Rat, Year of the Ox, and Year of the Tiger.
Questions
Is 心如止水 a real Chinese proverb?
Yes. 心如止水 (xīn rú zhǐ shuǐ) is a four-character classical idiom (chéngyǔ 成語), and it comes from Zhuangzi 莊子·德充符 (Dé Chōng Fú, Fullness of Virtue). 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 心如止水?
In Mandarin it is xīn rú zhǐ shuǐ. Read the pinyin above each character to follow the tones, or press the speaker beside the calligraphy to hear your browser read 心如止水 aloud in Mandarin.