如人飲水，冷暖自知

Chinese

		as (if); such as	man; person; people	to drink water		coldness and warmness; daily changes in temperature	to be personally aware; to know thyself
trad. (如人飲水，冷暖自知)		如	人	飲水	，	冷暖	自知
simp. (如人饮水，冷暖自知)		如	人	饮水	，	冷暖	自知
Literally: “Only the person drinking the water knows whether it is warm or cold.”

Etymology

From The Transmission of the Lamp (《景德傳燈錄》卷第四).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): rú rén yǐnshuǐ, lěngnuǎn zìzhī

  (Zhuyin): ㄖㄨˊ ㄖㄣˊ ㄧㄣˇ ㄕㄨㄟˇ , ㄌㄥˇ ㄋㄨㄢˇ ㄗˋ ㄓ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jyu⁴ jan⁴ jam² seoi², laang⁵ nyun⁵ zi⁶ zi¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: rú rén yǐnshuǐ, lěngnuǎn zìzhī [Phonetic: rúrényínshuǐ,léngnuǎnzìzhī]
    • Zhuyin: ㄖㄨˊ ㄖㄣˊ ㄧㄣˇ ㄕㄨㄟˇ , ㄌㄥˇ ㄋㄨㄢˇ ㄗˋ ㄓ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: rú rén yǐnshuěi, lěngnuǎn zìhjhih
    • Wade–Giles: ju² jên² yin³-shui³, lêng³-nuan³ tzŭ⁴-chih¹
    • Yale: rú rén yǐn-shwěi-, lěng-nwǎn dz̀-jr̄
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ru ren yiinshoei, leengnoan tzyhjy
    • Palladius: жу жэнь иньшуй, лэннуань цзычжи (žu žɛnʹ inʹšuj, lɛnnuanʹ czyčži)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʐu³⁵ ʐən³⁵ in²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʂu̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ lɤŋ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ nu̯än²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡sz̩⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jyu⁴ jan⁴ jam² seoi², laang⁵ nyun⁵ zi⁶ zi¹
    • Yale: yùh yàhn yám séui, láahng nyúhn jih jī
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jy⁴ jan⁴ jam² soey², laang⁵ nyn⁵ dzi⁶ dzi¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: yu⁴ yen⁴ yem² sêu², lang⁵ nün⁵ ji⁶ ji¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jyː²¹ jɐn²¹ jɐm³⁵ sɵy̯³⁵ laːŋ¹³ nyːn¹³ t͡siː²² t͡siː⁵⁵/

Proverb

如人飲水，冷暖自知

1. One must personally experience something in order to know what it's like.