諺語 · a single proverb
順其自然
Simplified: 顺其自然
What does 順其自然 (shùn qí zì rán) mean?
順其自然 (shùn qí zì rán) is a colloquial saying (súyǔ 俗語). Word for word it reads "follow its self-so." In use it means: Let nature take its course; work with a thing rather than force it. 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 Monkey.
Literally: "follow its self-so."
The reading
A room has its own light and its own flow, and so do you. The art is not to force either into a shape, but to move with what is already there until the two agree.
The story
This is a plain Daoist idiom rather than a line from a single text, built on Laozi's key term ziran, the self-so, the way a thing behaves when nothing forces it. In everyday speech it is the phrase people reach for when they advise letting a situation run its own course, said with a shrug over a matter no one can hurry.
Pick the one situation you have been managing too hard, and take your hands off it for a day. Watch what the thing does when you stop steering, and act only where the natural grain of it actually asks you to.
What kind of proverb it is
Source Daoist idiom (zìrán)
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 Monkey, Year of the Ox, Year of the Goat, and Year of the Rat.
Questions
Is 順其自然 a real Chinese proverb?
Yes. 順其自然 (shùn qí zì rán) is a colloquial saying (súyǔ 俗語), and it comes from Daoist idiom (zìrán). 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 順其自然?
In Mandarin it is shùn qí zì rán. Read the pinyin above each character to follow the tones, or press the speaker beside the calligraphy to hear your browser read 順其自然 aloud in Mandarin.