一人得道，鸡犬升天
yī rén dé dào , jī quǎn shēng tiān
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1 lit. when a man achieves the Dao, his poultry and dogs rise to Heaven (idiom)
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2 fig. to ride on sb else's success
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3 Once one man gets a government position, all his cronies get in too
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4 Once sb has cracked the problem, every Tom, Dick and Harry can do it
一清如水
yī qīng rú shuǐ
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1 lit. as clear as water (idiom)
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2 fig. (of officials etc) honest and incorruptible
一碗水端平
yī wǎn shuǐ duān píng
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1 lit. to hold a bowl of water level (idiom)
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2 fig. to be impartial
一语道破
yī yǔ dào pò
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1 one word says it all (idiom)
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2 to hit the nail on the head
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3 to be pithy and correct
一点水一个泡
yī diǎn shuǐ yī gè pào
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1 honest and trustworthy (idiom)
三个和尚没水喝
sān gè hé shang méi shuǐ hē
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1 lit. three monks have no water to drink (idiom)
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2 fig. everybody's business is nobody's business
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3 (If there is one monk, he will fetch water for himself. If there are two, they will fetch water together. But if there are three or more, none will take it upon himself to fetch water.)
不足为外人道
bù zú wéi wài rén dào
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1 no use to tell others
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2 let's keep this between ourselves (idiom)
不显山不露水
bù xiǎn shān bù lù shuǐ
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1 lit. to not show the mountain and to not reveal the water (idiom); fig. to hide the key facts
人不可貌相，海水不可斗量
rén bù kě mào xiàng , hǎi shuǐ bù kě dǒu liáng
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1 you can't judge a person by appearance, just as you can't measure the sea with a pint pot (idiom)
人往高处走，水往低处流
rén wǎng gāo chù zǒu , shuǐ wǎng dī chù liú
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1 man seeks his way up just as water seeks its way down (idiom)
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2 one should constantly strive to make progress
仁义道德
rén yì dào dé
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1 compassion, duty, propriety and integrity (idiom); all the traditional virtues
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2 mainly used sarcastically, to mean hypocritical
以其人之道，还治其人之身
yǐ qí rén zhī dào , huán zhì qí rén zhī shēn
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1 to use an opponent's own methods to obtain retribution (idiom, from Song dynasty neo-Confucianist Zhu Xi 朱熹); to get revenge by playing sb back at his own game
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2 to give sb a taste of his own medicine
你走你的阳关道，我过我的独木桥
nǐ zǒu nǐ de Yáng guān Dào , wǒ guò wǒ de dú mù qiáo
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1 lit. you hit the high road, I'll cross the log bridge (idiom)
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2 fig. you go your way, I'll go mine
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3 you do it your way, I'll do it mine
假道伐虢
jiǎ dào fá Guó
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1 to obtain safe passage to conquer the State of Guo
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2 to borrow the resources of an ally to attack a common enemy (idiom)
传道受业
chuán dào shòu yè
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1 to teach (idiom); lit. to give moral and practical instruction
兵来将挡，水来土掩
bīng lái jiàng dǎng , shuǐ lái tǔ yǎn
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1 counter soldiers with arms, water with an earth weir (idiom); different situations call for different action
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2 to adopt measures appropriate to the actual situation
兵来将敌，水来土堰
bīng lái jiàng dí , shuǐ lái tǔ yàn
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1 counter soldiers with arms, water with an earth weir (idiom); different situations call for different action
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2 to adopt measures appropriate to the actual situation
出水芙蓉
chū shuǐ fú róng
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1 as a lotus flower breaking the surface (idiom); surpassingly beautiful (of young lady's face or old gentleman's calligraphy)
分道扬镳
fēn dào yáng biāo
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1 lit. to take different roads and urge the horses on (idiom)
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2 fig. to part ways