人rén往wǎng高gāo處chù走zǒu，水shuǐ往wǎng低dī處chù流liú

What does 人往高處走，水往低處流 (rén wǎng gāo chù zǒu shuǐ wǎng dī chù liú) mean?

人往高處走，水往低處流 (rén wǎng gāo chù zǒu shuǐ wǎng dī chù liú) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語). Word for word it reads "people walk toward higher places, water flows toward lower places." In use it means: People naturally aspire upward; each follows their own 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 Snake.

Literally: "people walk toward higher places, water flows toward lower places."

The reading

The water and the person are both following the logic of their own nature, and both are right to do so. Water, by seeking the low place, eventually reaches the sea; people, by seeking the high place, eventually arrive where their aspiration pointed. Neither is fighting their nature; both are completing it. Let each thing move the way it was made to move.

What kind of proverb it is

• Typeyànyǔ 諺語
• FocusPresent-minded
• Element水 Water
• Zodiac tie蛇 Year of the Snake

Source Traditional Chinese folk saying (suyu)

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 The Way of Water, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Snake, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.