一字师

一字師

yīzìshī

idiom

Meanings

1 one-character teacher
2 someone who corrects a single character or word in your writing
3 an editor whose tiny change makes all the difference

Characters

character, word

teacher, master

Examples

他改了一个字，真是我的一字师。

Tā gǎile yí ge zì, zhēn shì wǒ de yīzìshī.

He changed just one character — truly my one-character teacher.

好老师不必博学，做得成一字师就够了。

Hǎo lǎoshī bùbì bóxué, zuò de chéng yīzìshī jiù gòu le.

A good teacher doesn't need vast learning — being a one-character mentor is enough.

Tips

history

Two sources: a humble clerk correcting Li Xiang's mispronunciation of a 《春秋》 character (《唐摭言》), and the poet Qi Ji changing 数枝开 to 一枝开 on Zheng Gu's suggestion — the single edit turned a 'plum in bloom' into an 'early plum.' Zheng Gu was thereafter called 一字师.

Stroke Order

一 yī

字 zì

师 shī