吃水不忘掘井人

chīshuǐbùwàngjuéjǐngrén

idiom

Meanings

1 when you drink the water, don't forget who dug the well
2 remember those who made your good fortune possible
3 be grateful to your benefactors

Characters

to eat / consume

Examples

吃水不忘掘井人，我们要感谢那些帮助过我们的人。

Chīshuǐbùwàngjuéjǐngrén, wǒmen yào gǎnxiè nàxiē bāngzhù guò wǒmen de rén.

Don't forget who dug the well — we should thank those who once helped us.

公司发展到今天，吃水不忘掘井人，老员工功不可没。

Gōngsī fāzhǎn dào jīntiān, chīshuǐbùwàngjuéjǐngrén, lǎo yuángōng gōng bù kě mò.

The company has come this far, and we mustn't forget the well-diggers — the old staff played an indispensable role.

Tips

history

The phrase was popularized through a primary-school text about Chairman Mao having a well dug for villagers in Shazhou (沙洲坝) in 1933 during the Jiangxi Soviet period; villagers later inscribed a stone reading 吃水不忘挖井人，时刻想念毛主席. The folk-saying form predates the political slogan.

usage

Standard rhetorical move at anniversaries, retirement speeches, and acknowledgements — invoke it to publicly thank people who came before you. Its register is warm and slightly old-fashioned.

Stroke Order

吃 chī

水 shuǐ

不 bù

忘 wàng

掘 jué

井 jǐng

人 rén