朽木不可雕

Chinese
rotten wood; hopeless case; good-for-nothing cannot; should not; must not engrave; shrewd
trad. (朽木不可雕) 朽木 不可 雕
simp. #(朽木不可雕) 朽木 不可 雕
Literally: “One cannot make a carving from rotten wood.”

Etymology

From the Analects of Confucius:

朽木不可雕也，糞土之牆不可杇也！于予與何誅？ [Classical Chinese, trad.][▼ expand/hide]
朽木不可雕也，粪土之墙不可杇也！于予与何诛？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: The Analects of Confucius, circa 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
Xiǔmù bùkě diāo yě, fèntǔ zhī qiáng bùkě wū yě! Yú Yǔ yǔ hé zhū? [Pinyin]
Rotten wood cannot be carved; a wall of dirty earth will not receive the trowel. This Yu! - what is the use of my reproving him?

Pronunciation

Proverb

朽木不可雕

  1. You can’t get pete from a tree; You can’t teach a student that doesn’t have the aptitude.

Descendants
Sino-Xenic (朽木不可雕):

Vietnamese
Hán tự in this word
朽木不可雕

Idiom

朽木不可雕

  1. Hán tự form of hủ mộc bất khả điêu.
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.