水能載舟
shuǐ​néng​zài​zhōu

water can carry a boat

  • created sense approved 水能载舟/水能載舟 · shuǐ​néng​zài​zhōu · water can carry a boat — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    水能载舟 / 水能載舟

    shuǐ​néng​zài​zhōu

    water can carry a boat

    first half of a common idiom stating that the people can support a leadership but can also overthrow it; used to describe the dual nature of power and public support

    水 (literal) → 水 · shuǐ · water 能 (literal) → 能 · néng · can 载 (literal) → 载/載 · zài · to carry 舟 (literal) → 舟 · zhōu · boat

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense