{"path":"/entry/85165","title":"缘木求鱼 / 緣木求魚 (yuán mù qiú yú) — Chinese Dictionary | Flashbao","description":"缘木求鱼 / 緣木求魚 (yuán mù qiú yú): literally climb a tree to catch a fish (idiom) · figuratively to attempt the impossible. Explore meanings, example sentences and vocabulary decks.","catalog":null,"deck":null,"entry":{"reading":{"id":85165,"orthography":{"forms":{"SIMPLIFIED":["缘木求鱼"],"TRADITIONAL":["緣木求魚"]}},"phonetic":"yuán mù qiú yú","phoneticKey":"yuan2 mu4 qiu2 yu2","meanings":{"primary":[{"qualifier":null,"synonyms":[{"segments":[{"dim":false,"runs":[{"kind":"TEXT","text":"literally climb a tree to catch a fish ","orthography":null,"phonetic":null,"phoneticKey":null,"readingId":null}]},{"dim":true,"runs":[{"kind":"TEXT","text":"(idiom)","orthography":null,"phonetic":null,"phoneticKey":null,"readingId":null}]}]},{"segments":[{"dim":false,"runs":[{"kind":"TEXT","text":"figuratively to attempt the impossible","orthography":null,"phonetic":null,"phoneticKey":null,"readingId":null}]}]}]}],"additional":[],"notes":[],"variantMeanings":[]},"classifiers":[],"pos":["NOUN"],"frequency":null,"grammar":[],"spokenPhonetic":null},"otherReadings":[],"examples":[],"carriedReadings":[],"constructions":[],"status":null,"due":null,"reps":null,"lapses":null,"lastReview":null,"senses":[],"origins":[{"literal":"to seek for fish in a tree","content":[{"type":"paragraph","text":{"simplified":"From Mencius (《孟子·梁惠王上》)","traditional":null}}],"examples":[{"text":{"simplified":"曰：「殆有甚焉。缘木求鱼，虽不得鱼，无后灾。以若所为，求若所欲，尽心力而为之，后必有灾。」","traditional":"曰：「殆有甚焉。緣木求魚，雖不得魚，無後災。以若所為，求若所欲，盡心力而為之，後必有災。」"},"phonetic":"Yuē: “Dài yǒu shèn yān. Yuán mù qiú yú, suī bùdé yú, wú hòu zāi. Yǐ ruò suǒ wéi, qiú ruò suǒ yù, jìn xīnlì ér wéi zhī, hòu bì yǒu zāi.”","english":"\"It is even worse,\" was the reply. \"If you climb a tree to seek for fish, although you do not get the fish, you will not suffer any subsequent calamity. But doing what you do to seek for what you desire, doing it moreover with all your heart, you will assuredly afterwards meet with calamities.\"","ref":"Mencius, c. 4ᵗʰ century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version"}],"senseScoped":false}],"decks":[{"id":27,"sourceName":"Chengyu","name":"Chengyu"}],"vocabularyScale":null,"vocabularyLevel":null}}