無源之水，無本之木

Chinese

		without a source	's; him/her/it; this	water; river			's; him/her/it; this	tree; wood
trad. (無源之水，無本之木)		無源	之	水	，	無本	之	木
simp. (无源之水，无本之木)		无源	之	水	，	无本	之	木
Literally: “water without a source, a tree without roots”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wúyuán zhī shuǐ, wúběn zhī mù

  (Zhuyin): ㄨˊ ㄩㄢˊ ㄓ ㄕㄨㄟˇ , ㄨˊ ㄅㄣˇ ㄓ ㄇㄨˋ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wúyuán zhī shuǐ, wúběn zhī mù
    • Zhuyin: ㄨˊ ㄩㄢˊ ㄓ ㄕㄨㄟˇ , ㄨˊ ㄅㄣˇ ㄓ ㄇㄨˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wúyuán jhih shuěi, wúběn jhih mù
    • Wade–Giles: wu²-yüan² chih¹ shui³, wu²-pên³ chih¹ mu⁴
    • Yale: wú-ywán jr̄ shwěi-, wú-běn jr̄ mù
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wuyuan jy shoei, wubeen jy muh
    • Palladius: уюань чжи шуй, убэнь чжи му (ujuanʹ čži šuj, ubɛnʹ čži mu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /u³⁵ ɥɛn³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ ʂu̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ u³⁵ pən²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ mu⁵¹/

Idiom

無源之水，無本之木

1. (figuratively) baseless

   • 理性的東西所以靠得住，正是由於它來源於感性，否則理性的東西就成了無源之水，無本之木，而只是主觀自生的靠不住的東西了。 [MSC, trad.]
     理性的东西所以靠得住，正是由于它来源于感性，否则理性的东西就成了无源之水，无本之木，而只是主观自生的靠不住的东西了。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1937, 毛澤東 (Mao Zedong), 《實踐論》 (On Practice), 《毛澤東選集》. English translation based on the Foreign Languages Press edition

     Lǐxìng de dōngxi suǒyǐ kào de zhù, zhèngshì yóuyú tā láiyuán yú gǎnxìng, fǒuzé lǐxìng de dōngxi jiù chéng le wúyuán zhī shuǐ, wúběn zhī mù, ér zhǐshì zhǔguān zìshēng de kào bu zhù de dōngxi le. [Pinyin]

     The rational is reliable precisely because it has its source in sense perceptions, other wise it would be like water without a source, a tree without roots, subjective, self-engendered and unreliable.

Synonyms

• 無根之木，無源之水／无根之木，无源之水 (wúgēn zhī mù, wúyuán zhī shuǐ)