才高八斗

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Chinese

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ability; talent; endowment
ability; talent; endowment; gift; an expert; only (then); only if; just
 
high; tall eight
ladle; dipper; small
ladle; dipper; small; big; stars
 
trad. (才高八斗)
simp. #(才高八斗)

Etymology

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From Xie Lingyun's comment about Cao Zhi:

謝靈運:「天下,曹子建獨占天下 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
谢灵运:「天下,曹子建独占天下 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: Song dynasty, anonymous, 《釋常談》 (Shi Chang Tan)
Xiè Língyùn cháng yuē: “Tiānxià cái yǒu yī dàn, Cáo Zǐjiàn dúzhàn bā dǒu, wǒ dé yī dǒu, tiānxià gòng fēn yī dǒu. [Pinyin]
Xie Lingyun once said, “If all talents in the world weigh one dan (i.e. 10 dous) in total, Cao Zijian (courtesy name of Cao Zhi) owned 8 dous, I own 1 dou, and all others in the world share the remaining 1 dou.”

In this statement, Xie expressed his admiration of Cao Zhi as well as his pride.

Pronunciation

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Idiom

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才高八斗

  1. of great talent

Synonyms

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