刻舟求劍

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See also: 刻舟求剑

Chinese

quarter (hour); (a measure word); to carve
quarter (hour); (a measure word); to carve; to engrave; to cut; oppressive
 
boat
to seek; to look for; to request
to seek; to look for; to request; to demand; to beseech
 
(double-edged) sword
trad. (刻舟求劍)
simp. (刻舟求剑)
Literally: “notch the boat in search of the sword”.

Etymology

From a story in Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals:

[Classical Chinese, trad.]
[Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: Lü Buwei, Master Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals, 239 BCE
Chǔ rén yǒu shè jiāng zhě, qí jiàn zì zhōu zhōng zhuì yú shuǐ. Jù qì qí zhōu, yuē: shì wú jiàn zhī suǒ cóng zhuì. Zhōu zhǐ, cóng qí suǒ qì zhě rù shuǐ qiú zhī. Zhōu yǐ xíng yǐ, ér jiàn bù xíng. Qiú jiàn ruò cǐ, bù yì huò hū.
There was a man from the state of Chu who was crossing a river. His sword fell from the boat into the river. He quickly made a notch on the boat saying, "This is the place where my sword fell in. When the boat stops, I will go into the water and search for my sword from the spot where I made the notch." The boat was already moving, but the sword had not moved. Is it not stupid to search for the sword in this manner?

Pronunciation



Rime
Character
Reading # 1/1 1/1 1/1 1/1
Initial () (29) (23) (30) (28)
Final () (131) (136) (136) (145)
Tone (調) Checked (Ø) Level (Ø) Level (Ø) Departing (H)
Openness (開合) Open Open Open Open
Division () I III III III
Fanqie
Baxter khok tsyuw gjuw kjaemH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/kʰək̚/ /t͡ɕɨu/ /ɡɨu/ /kɨɐmH/
Pan
Wuyun
/kʰək̚/ /t͡ɕiu/ /ɡiu/ /kiɐmH/
Shao
Rongfen
/kʰək̚/ /t͡ɕiəu/ /ɡiəu/ /kiɐmH/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/kʰək̚/ /cuw/ /guw/ /kɨamH/
Li
Rong
/kʰək̚/ /t͡ɕiu/ /ɡiu/ /kiɐmH/
Wang
Li
/kʰək̚/ /t͡ɕĭəu/ /ɡĭəu/ /kĭɐmH/
Bernhard
Karlgren
/kʰək̚/ /t͡ɕi̯ə̯u/ /gi̯ə̯u/ /ki̯ɐmH/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
ke zhōu qiú jiàn
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
hak1 zau1 kau4 gim3
BaxterSagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 1/1 1/1 1/1 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
zhōu qiú jiàn
Middle
Chinese
‹ khok › ‹ tsyuw › ‹ gjuw › ‹ kjæmH ›
Old
Chinese
/*ˁək/ /*tu/ /*(r)u/ /*s.krm-s/
English cut, engrave boat seek sword

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. * as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p;
* Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix;
* Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary;

* Period "." indicates syllable boundary.
Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character
Reading # 1/1 1/1 1/1 1/1
No. 4840 17504 10560 10227
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
0 2 1 1
Corresponding
MC rime
𧚍
Old
Chinese
/*kʰɯːɡ/ /*tjɯw/ /*ɡu/ /*kams/
Notes


Idiom

刻舟求劍

  1. to not know how to adapt to changed conditions; to rigidly cling to an idea or approach without considering the reality of a situation; to stubbornly cling to tradition

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (刻舟求劍):

Others:

Korean

Hanja in this term

Noun

刻舟求劍 (gakjugugeom) (hangeul 각주구검)

  1. hanja form? of 각주구검