伯樂相馬

Chinese

		Bo Le	to examine and judge a horse; Sōma
trad. (伯樂相馬)		伯樂	相馬
simp. (伯乐相马)		伯乐	相马
Literally: “Bo Le judging horses”.

Etymology

From the Han shi waizhuan:

使驥不得伯樂，安得千里之足？ [MSC, trad.]

---

使骥不得伯乐，安得千里之足？ [MSC, simp.]

From: 150 BCE, Han Ying, 韓詩外傳/卷第7

Shǐ jì bùdé Bó Lè, āndé qiānlǐ zhī zú? [Pinyin]

If the horse that can travel 1000 li in a day had not been discovered by Bo Le, how could it show its ability to travel one thousand li in a single day?

From the Zashuosi:

世有伯樂，然後有千里馬。千里馬常有，而伯樂不常有。 [MSC, trad.]

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世有伯乐，然后有千里马。千里马常有，而伯乐不常有。 [MSC, simp.]

From: Han Yu, 雜說四

Shì yǒu Bó Lè, ránhòu yǒu qiānlǐmǎ. Qiānlǐmǎ cháng yǒu, ér Bó Lè bùcháng yǒu. [Pinyin]

In all of the world, there was Bo Le first, then there were thousand li horses. Thousand li horses often exist, but a Bo Le does not often exist.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): Bó Lè xiàng mǎ

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄛˊ ㄌㄜˋ ㄒㄧㄤˋ ㄇㄚˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): baak³ lok⁶ soeng³ maa⁵

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: Bó Lè xiàng mǎ
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄛˊ ㄌㄜˋ ㄒㄧㄤˋ ㄇㄚˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: Bó Lè siàng mǎ
    • Wade–Giles: Po² Lê⁴ hsiang⁴ ma³
    • Yale: Bwó Lè syàng mǎ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Bor Leh shianq maa
    • Palladius: Бо Лэ сян ма (Bo Lɛ sjan ma)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu̯ɔ³⁵ lɤ⁵¹⁻⁵³ ɕi̯ɑŋ⁵¹ mä²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: baak³ lok⁶ soeng³ maa⁵
    • Yale: baak lohk seung máh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: baak⁸ lok⁹ soeng³ maa⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: bag³ log⁶ sêng³ ma⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /paːk̚³ lɔːk̚² sœːŋ³³ maː¹³/

Idiom

伯樂相馬

1. Praising those who are good at discovering talent

References

“伯樂相馬 [Bo Le judging horses]”, in Baidu Baike [Baidu Encyclopedia] (in Chinese) (wiki), 2020 May 16, retrieved January 2, 2024