一字之师

一字之師

yīzìzhīshī

idiom

Meanings

1 a one-character master
2 someone who improves your writing by changing a single character

Characters

(possessive particle)

Examples

他改了我文章的一个字，真是我的一字之师。

Tā gǎile wǒ wénzhāng de yí gè zì, zhēn shì wǒ de yīzì zhī shī.

He changed one character in my essay — he really is my one-character master.

古人尊重一字之师，谦虚求教。

Gǔrén zūnzhòng yīzì zhī shī, qiānxū qiújiào.

The ancients respected the one-character master and humbly sought instruction.

Tips

history

From 宋·计有功《唐诗纪事》: the Tang monk-poet Qi Ji (齐己) wrote a poem 《早梅》 with the line '前村深雪里，数枝开' ('several branches in bloom'). Zheng Gu (郑谷) suggested changing 数枝 ('several branches') to 一枝 ('a single branch') to fit 'early plum.' Qi Ji bowed in thanks, and Zheng was honored as his 一字师 — one-character master.

Stroke Order

一 yī

字 zì

之 zhī

师 shī