星星之火，可以燎原

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Chinese

salt-and-pepper; grizzled; tiny spot
salt-and-pepper; grizzled; tiny spot; speck
 
 's; him/her/it; this
fire; angry; fierce
fire; angry; fierce; fiery; thriving
 
can; may; can
can; may; can; to be able to
 
 to set the prairie ablaze
trad. (星星之火，可以燎原) 星星 之 火 ， 可以 燎原
simp. #(星星之火，可以燎原) 星星 之 火 ， 可以 燎原
Literally: “a single spark can start a huge blaze”.

Etymology

From the Book of Documents:

若火之燎于原，不可嚮邇，其猶可撲滅？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
若火之燎于原，不可向迩，其犹可扑灭？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: The Book of Documents, circa 4th – 3rd century BCE
Ruò huǒ zhī liáo yú yuán, bùkě xiàng'ěr, qí yóu kě pūmiè?
When fire is burning the grassland, one (already) cannot stay near it, then how can one put it out?

Later popularized through a letter from Mao Zedong to Lin Biao (see 星星之火，可以燎原 on the Chinese Wikipedia.Wikipedia zh).

Pronunciation

Proverb

星星之火，可以燎原

  1. an insignificant cause can have a massive effect

See also

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia