乘桴浮于海

乘桴浮於海

chéng fú fú yú hǎi

quotation

Meanings

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

Characters

Examples

HSK 7-9

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 xiǎngqǐ Kǒngzǐ chéngfúfúyúhǎi de gǎntàn.

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

HSK 7-9

他辞去工作环游世界，有点乘桴浮于海的味道。

Tā cíqù gōngzuò huányóu shìjiè, yǒudiǎn chéngfúfúyúhǎi 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 桴 means 'raft' and 浮 'to float.' The line 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