乘桴浮于海

乘桴浮於海

chéngfúfúyúhǎi

phrase

Meanings

1 ride a little raft and drift out to sea
2 (fig.) abandon a worldly-failed mission and retreat; Confucius's half-ironic sigh at the Way not being followed
3 (lit.) ride raft float on sea

Characters

Examples

理想难以实现时，他常想起孔子乘桴浮于海的感叹。

Lǐxiǎng nányǐ shíxiàn shí, tā cháng xiǎng qǐ Kǒngzǐ chéng fú fú yú hǎi de gǎntàn.

When his ideals seemed unreachable, he often thought of Confucius's sigh: 'to ride a raft out upon the sea.'

他辞去工作环游世界，有点乘桴浮于海的味道。

Tā cíqù gōngzuò huányóu shìjiè, yǒu diǎn chéng fú fú yú hǎi de wèidào.

Quitting his job to travel the world, he had something of the flavor of 'drifting out to sea on a raft.'

Tips

history

From 《论语·公冶长》(Analects, Gongye Chang, Confucius, c. 500 BCE): 道不行，乘桴浮于海，从我者其由与？(The Way is not practiced — I'll take a small raft and drift out to sea. The one who follows me will surely be You [= Zilu]?) A wry, fatigued line: Confucius imagines abandoning political reform. When Zilu hears this and is delighted, Confucius teases him for excess zeal.

usage

Reading: 桴 = fú ('small raft / bamboo raft'); the two 浮 and 桴 sound similar but the first 桴 means 'raft' and 浮 'to float.' The couplet is often quoted in contexts of withdrawal, exile, or giving up on a stalled cause.

Stroke Order

乘 chéng

桴 fú

浮 fú

于 yú

海 hǎi