如人饮水，冷暖自知 rú rén yǐn shuǐ ， lěng nuǎn zì zhī

to know best by personal experience

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. to know best by personal experience
  2. 2. the person who drinks it knows best whether the water is hot or cold (Zen proverb); self-awareness comes from within

Characters

Character Meaning
如 rú HSK 3
as; such as; as if
人 rén HSK 1
person; people; man
饮 yǐn HSK 3
to drink; old variant of 飲yǐn
水 shuǐ HSK 1
water; liquid; beverage
冷 lěng HSK 1
cold; surname Leng
暖 nuǎn HSK 4
warm; to warm; variant of 暖nuǎn, warm
自 zì HSK 3
self; oneself; from
知 zhī HSK 2
to know; to be aware