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April 1, 2023

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Can one weigh sea water with a ladle?h菐i sh菙i b霉 k臎 d菕u li谩ng Zhang Ciyun

There are many stories about the origin of the popular Chinese saying ren buke maoxiang, haishui buke douliang, or literally 鈥渁 man cannot be judged by his looks just as sea water cannot be weighed by a ladle.鈥

One of the stories is about a man called Ziyu, who was a student of Chinese philosopher Confucius (551-479 BC). Ziyu had an ugly face, so Confucius didn鈥檛 have a good impression of him at first sight and treated him coldly. Soon after, Ziyu left his teacher and returned home to study on his own.

Actually, Ziyu was not only a very diligent student, but also highly talented. A few years later, he became a famous scholar in the regions south of the Yangtze River and had more than 300 students himself.

When Confucius learned of these achievements, he sighed and said: 鈥淚 judged Ziyu only by his looks, and therein I have lost such a good student.鈥

From then on, the phrase 鈥渄on鈥檛 judge a person by his looks鈥 has been cited frequently in oral and written Chinese. It means almost the same as English sayings such as 鈥渄on鈥檛 judge a book by its cover鈥 or 鈥渃lothes don鈥檛 make the man.鈥


 

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