夸父逐日

Chinese

		Kua Fu	to pursue; to chase; individually to pursue; to chase; individually; one by one	day; sun; date day; sun; date; day of the month; Japan (abbrev.)
trad. (夸父逐日)		夸父	逐	日
simp. #(夸父逐日)		夸父	逐	日
alternative forms		夸父追日
Literally: “Kua Fu chases the sun”.

Etymology

See Kua Fu on Wikipedia for the background story.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): kuāfùzhúrì, kuāfǔzhúrì

  (Zhuyin): ㄎㄨㄚ ㄈㄨˋ ㄓㄨˊ ㄖˋ, ㄎㄨㄚ ㄈㄨˇ ㄓㄨˊ ㄖˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): kwaa¹ fu⁶ zuk⁶ jat⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: kuāfùzhúrì
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄨㄚ ㄈㄨˋ ㄓㄨˊ ㄖˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: kuafùjhúrìh
    • Wade–Giles: kʻua¹-fu⁴-chu²-jih⁴
    • Yale: kwā-fù-jú-r̀
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kuafuhjwuryh
    • Palladius: куафучжужи (kuafučžuži)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰu̯ä⁵⁵ fu⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂu³⁵ ʐ̩⁵¹/
      
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: kuāfǔzhúrì
    • Zhuyin: ㄎㄨㄚ ㄈㄨˇ ㄓㄨˊ ㄖˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: kuafǔjhúrìh
    • Wade–Giles: kʻua¹-fu³-chu²-jih⁴
    • Yale: kwā-fǔ-jú-r̀
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kuafuujwuryh
    • Palladius: куафучжужи (kuafučžuži)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰu̯ä⁵⁵ fu²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂu³⁵ ʐ̩⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: kwaa¹ fu⁶ zuk⁶ jat⁶
    • Yale: kwā fuh juhk yaht
    • Cantonese Pinyin: kwaa¹ fu⁶ dzuk⁹ jat⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: kua¹ fu⁶ zug⁶ yed⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʷʰaː⁵⁵ fuː²² t͡sʊk̚² jɐt̚²/

Idiom

夸父逐日

1. (figurative, derogatory) to not know one's limitations; to overestimate one's abilities
2. (figurative) to be willing to overcome all obstacles to reach one's goal.

Synonyms

• 自不量力 (zìbùliànglì)
• 螳臂當車／螳臂当车 (tángbìdāngchē)

Antonyms

• 量力而為／量力而为 (liànglì'érwéi)