| 燕雀焉知鸿鹄之志 |
yàn què yān zhī hóng gǔ zhī zhì |
lit. can the sparrow and swallow know the will of the great swan? (idiom); fig. how can we small fry predict the ambitions of the great? |
| 燕 |
Yān |
Yan, a vassal state of Zhou in present-day Hebei and Liaoning / north Hebei / the four Yan kingdoms of the Sixteen Kingdoms, namely: Former Yan 前燕 (337-370), Later Yan 后燕 (384-409), Southern Yan 南燕 (398-410), Northern Yan 北燕 (409-436) / surname Yan |
| 燕 |
yàn |
swallow (family Hirundinidae) / old variant of 宴 |
| 燕 |
yàn |
variant of 燕 |
| 燕雀 |
yàn què |
(bird species of China) brambling (Fringilla montifringilla) / (fig.) small fry |
| 雀 |
qiāo |
a freckle / lentigo |
| 雀 |
què |
(bound form) small bird / sparrow / also pr. [qiao3] |
| 焉 |
yān |
where / how |
| 焉知 |
yān zhī |
(literary) how is one to know? |
| 知 |
zhī |
to know / to be aware |
| 鸿 |
hóng |
eastern bean goose / great / large |
| 鸿鹄 |
hóng hú |
swan / person with noble aspirations |
| 鹄 |
gǔ |
center or bull's eye of an archery target (old) / goal / target |
| 鹄 |
hú |
swan |
| 之 |
zhī |
(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的) / him / her / it |
| 志 |
zhì |
aspiration / ambition / the will |
| 志 |
zhì |
sign / mark / to record / to write a footnote |