君子之交淡如水 jūn zǐ zhī jiāo dàn rú shuǐ

noble friends’ bond is calm, pure, without gain

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. a gentleman's friendship, insipid as water (idiom, from Zhuangzi zhuāng zǐ)

Characters

Character Meaning
lord; ruler; monarch
(noun suffix); son; child
(possessive particle, literary equivalent of de); it
to pay (money); to hand over; to deliver
light in color; tasteless; diluted
as; such as; as if
water; liquid; beverage