燕yàn雀què安ān知zhī鴻hóng鵠hú之zhī志zhì

What does 燕雀安知鴻鵠之志 (yàn què ān zhī hóng hú zhī zhì) mean?

燕雀安知鴻鵠之志 (yàn què ān zhī hóng hú zhī zhì) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語). Word for word it reads "how can the sparrow know the great swan's ambitions." In use it means: Small-minded people cannot understand the great aspirations of those with vision. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Fire note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Rooster.

Literally: "how can the sparrow know the great swan's ambitions."

The reading

The sparrow lives in the hedge and completes its hedge-world with full competence and never wonders about the sky routes of the migrating birds. What the great bird knows of wind and distance is simply outside the vocabulary of the sparrow's concerns. This is not contempt but recognition: not every perspective can hold every kind of ambition.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeyànyǔ 諺語
• FocusPresent-minded
• Element火 Fire
• Zodiac tie雞 Year of the Rooster

Source Shi Ji 史記·陳涉世家 (Chén Shè biography)

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 Courage & Decisive Action, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Rooster, Year of the Ox, and Year of the Tiger.