lit. can the sparrow and swallow know the will of the great swan? (idiom); fig. how can we small fry predict the ambitions of the great?
trad. 燕雀焉知鴻鵠之志
Also written 燕雀焉知鴻鵠之志【yàn què yān zhī hóng gǔ zhī zhì】
Characters in this word
8燕
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
Yan, a vassal state of Zhou in present-day Hebei and Liaoning, north Hebei, the four Yan kingdoms of the Sixteen Kingdoms, namely: Former Yan 前燕[Qian2 Yan1] (337–370), Later Yan 後燕|后燕[Hou4 Yan1] (384–409), Southern Yan 南燕[Nan2 Yan1] (398–410), Northern Yan 北燕[Bei3 Yan1] (409–436), surname Yan
- Pinyin
- Yān
- Strokes
- 16
雀
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
a freckle, lentigo
- Pinyin
- qiāo
- Strokes
- 11
- Frequency
- 36723 of 2500
焉
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
where, how
- Pinyin
- yān
- Strokes
- 11
- Frequency
- 34110 of 2500
知
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
to know, to be aware
- Pinyin
- zhī
- Strokes
- 8
- Frequency
- 3344 of 2500
鸿
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
eastern bean goose, great, large
- Pinyin
- hóng
- Traditional
- 鴻
- Strokes
- 11
鹄
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
center or bull's eye of an archery target (old), goal, target
- Pinyin
- gǔ
- Traditional
- 鵠
- Strokes
- 12
之
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5]), him, her, it
- Pinyin
- zhī
- Strokes
- 3
- Frequency
- 475 of 2500
志
Strokes: KanjiVG, CC BY-SA 3.0
aspiration, ambition, the will
- Pinyin
- zhì
- Strokes
- 7
- Frequency
- 28262 of 2500