水到渠成

Chinese

		water; river	to (a place); until (a time); up to to (a place); until (a time); up to; to go; to arrive	big; stream or canal; drain big; stream or canal; drain; ditch	finish; complete; accomplish finish; complete; accomplish; become; turn into; win; succeed; one tenth
trad. (水到渠成)		水	到	渠	成
simp. #(水到渠成)		水	到	渠	成
Literally: “where the water flows, a channel forms”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shuǐdàoqúchéng

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄨㄟˇ ㄉㄠˋ ㄑㄩˊ ㄔㄥˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): seoi² dou³ keoi⁴ sing⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shuǐdàoqúchéng
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄨㄟˇ ㄉㄠˋ ㄑㄩˊ ㄔㄥˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shuěidàocyúchéng
    • Wade–Giles: shui³-tao⁴-chʻü²-chʻêng²
    • Yale: shwěi-dàu-chyú-chéng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shoeidawchyucherng
    • Palladius: шуйдаоцюйчэн (šujdaocjujčɛn)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂu̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ tɑʊ̯⁵¹ t͡ɕʰy³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰɤŋ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: seoi² dou³ keoi⁴ sing⁴
    • Yale: séui dou kèuih sìhng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: soey² dou³ koey⁴ sing⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: sêu² dou³ kêu⁴ xing⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɵy̯³⁵ tou̯³³ kʰɵy̯²¹ sɪŋ²¹/

Idiom

水到渠成

1. to achieve something without effort; effortless; something which comes naturally [from 1080]

   • 大抵世上無難為的事，只胡亂做將去，自有水到渠成日子。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     大抵世上无难为的事，只胡乱做将去，自有水到渠成日子。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: 1596, 袁宏道,《致李子髯》, translated by Jonathan Chaves, 1978.

     Dàdǐ shìshàng wú nánwèi de shì, zhǐ húluàn zuòjiāngqù, zìyǒu shuǐdàoqúchéng rìzǐ. [Pinyin]

     All in all, nothing in this world is that hard to do—just charge ahead and do it! A day will inevitably come when “the ditch will be dug and the waters flow through.”