精卫填海
Jīng wèi tián hǎi
Jingwei filling the sea: dogged determination against impossible odds
Character by character
精Jīng
Jing-
Jing-
卫wèi
-wei (a bird)
-wei (a bird)
填tián
fill
fill
海hǎi
sea
sea
Example
有人笑他们是精卫填海，可三十年后，沙漠边上真的长出了一片树林。
Some laughed that they were Jingwei trying to fill the sea, but thirty years later a forest really did stand at the edge of the desert.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
From the ancient 山海经: the Flame Emperor’s daughter drowned in the Eastern Sea and became the bird Jingwei, which carried twigs and pebbles from the western hills to fill it in. Mostly praise for stubborn persistence; said with a smile, it can hint that a task is hopeless.
Learn this in Lesson 170 · HSK 7–9: 绿色长城 (The Green Great Wall)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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