治大国若烹小鲜
zhì​dà​guó​ruò​pēng​xiǎo​xiān

governing is like cooking small fish

  • created sense approved 治大国若烹小鲜/治大國若烹小鮮 · zhì​dà​guó​ruò​pēng​xiǎo​xiān · governing is like cooking small fish — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    治大国若烹小鲜 / 治大國若烹小鮮

    zhì​dà​guó​ruò​pēng​xiǎo​xiān

    governing is like cooking small fish

    ruling a large nation is like cooking a small delicacy; suggests that effective government requires minimal intervention or over-handling

    治 (literal) → 治 · zhì · to rule 大国 (literal) → 大国/大國 · dà​guó · major power 若 (literal) → 若 · ruò · to seem 烹 (literal) → 烹 · pēng · to cook 小 (literal) → 小 · xiǎo · small 鲜 (literal) → 鲜/鮮 · xiān · delicacy

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

    created sense