汗滴禾下土

hàn dī hé xià tǔ

quotation

Meanings

1 sweat drips onto the soil beneath the grain
2 the hard labor of the peasant (literally: sweat falls on the earth under the rice plants)

Characters

grain/rice plant

Examples

HSK 5

吃饭时要想到‘汗滴禾下土’，不要浪费粮食。

Chīfàn shí yào xiǎngdào ' hàndīhéxiàtǔ ', búyào làngfèi liángshi.

While eating, remember 'sweat dripping on the soil beneath the grain' and don't waste food.

HSK 7-9

老师讲‘锄禾日当午，汗滴禾下土’，教育孩子们珍惜粮食。

Lǎoshī jiǎng ' chúhérìdāngwǔ, hàndīhéxiàtǔ ', jiàoyù háizimen zhēnxī liángshi.

The teacher recited the poem to teach the children to cherish food.

Tips

history

From Li Shen 李绅's 《悯农》 (Tang): 锄禾日当午，汗滴禾下土。谁知盘中餐，粒粒皆辛苦。 (Hoeing rice under the noon sun, sweat drips on the soil beneath the plants; who realises that every grain in the bowl is the fruit of bitter toil?) Ubiquitous in Chinese primary-school ethics lessons on not wasting food.

usage

Normally quoted together with 锄禾日当午 and the following couplet. 禾 = growing grain / rice plant.

Stroke Order

汗 hàn

滴 dī

禾 hé

下 xià

土 tǔ