諺語 · a single proverb
水到渠成
What does 水到渠成 (shuǐ dào qú chéng) mean?
水到渠成 (shuǐ dào qú chéng) is a four-character classical idiom (chéngyǔ 成語). Word for word it reads "the water arrives, the channel forms." In use it means: When conditions are ripe, results follow without forcing. 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 Ox.
Literally: "the water arrives, the channel forms."
The reading
Stop digging the channel and tend the water instead. When the flow is full enough, the path it needs appears on its own, and what you wanted arrives without a fight.
The story
The phrase is recorded in the writings of the Song poet Su Shi, drawn from an image already worn smooth by folk speech: dig no channel until the water is flowing, and once it flows the channel cuts itself. It names the moment when accumulated conditions have grown so ripe that the result simply falls out of them.
Stop forcing the outcome and go feed the conditions instead. Do the reading, make the calls, deepen the skill, and let the day the water arrives find the channel already waiting to receive it.
What kind of proverb it is
Source recorded in Su Shi 蘇軾 (Song); folk saying
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 Timing & Fortune's Turning, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Ox, Year of the Goat, and Year of the Rat.
Questions
Is 水到渠成 a real Chinese proverb?
Yes. 水到渠成 (shuǐ dào qú chéng) is a four-character classical idiom (chéngyǔ 成語), and it comes from recorded in Su Shi 蘇軾 (Song); folk saying. 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 水到渠成?
In Mandarin it is shuǐ dào qú chéng. Read the pinyin above each character to follow the tones, or press the speaker beside the calligraphy to hear your browser read 水到渠成 aloud in Mandarin.