| 春江水暖鸭先知 |
chūn jiāng shuǐ nuǎn yā xiān zhī |
lit. the duck is the first to know if the spring water is warm (idiom) / fig. an expert in the field knows which way the wind blows |
| 春 |
chūn |
old variant of 春 |
| 春 |
Chūn |
surname Chun |
| 春 |
chūn |
spring (season) / gay / joyful / youthful / love / lust / life |
| 江 |
Jiāng |
surname Jiang / (bound form) Yangtze River / (bound form) Jiangsu Province (abbr. for 江苏) |
| 江 |
jiāng |
river / CL:条,道 |
| 江水 |
jiāng shuǐ |
river water |
| 水 |
Shuǐ |
surname Shui |
| 水 |
shuǐ |
water / (after a name) ... River / to swim (used mostly in 会水 and 水性) / (coll.) lacking in substance; shoddy / (bound form) additional cost; extra income / classifier for washings of a garment |
| 暖 |
nuǎn |
old variant of 暖 |
| 暖 |
nuǎn |
warm / to warm |
| 暖 |
nuǎn |
variant of 暖 |
| 暖 |
nuǎn |
variant of 暖, warm |
| 鸭 |
yā |
duck (CL:只) / (slang) male prostitute |
| 先 |
xiān |
beforehand; first; earlier / at first; originally / for the time being; for now / (prefix) my late (in referring to deceased relatives older than oneself) |
| 先知 |
xiān zhī |
a person of foresight / (religion) a prophet |
| 知 |
zhī |
to know / to be aware |