春江水暖鴨先知

简 春江水暖鸭先知 · 繁 春江水暖鴨先知
Mandarin · pinyin chūn jiāng shuǐ nuǎn yā xiān zhī

Meanings

  1. lit. the duck is the first to know if the spring water is warm (idiom)
  2. fig. an expert in the field knows which way the wind blows
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Characters in this entry

春
chūn · spring; wanton
江
jiāng · large river; the Yangzi; surname
水
shuǐ · water, liquid, lotion, juice
暖
nuǎn · warm, genial
鴨
yā · duck; Anas species (various)
先
xiān · first, former, previous
知
zhī · know, perceive, comprehend
鸭
yā · duck; Anas species (various)
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–1–3–3–1–1–1 · chun1 jiang1 shui3 nuan3 ya1 xian1 zhi1

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ceon1 gong1 seoi2 nyun5 aap3 sin1 zi1

Cantonese word readings for 春江水暖鴨先知. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

ceon1 gong1 seoi2 nyun5 aap3 sin1 zi1

Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

proverb

  1. Professionals within an industry or profession will be the first to notice a change in circumstances.

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

春江水暖鴨先知 · chun1 jiang1 shui3 nuan3 ya1 xian1 zhi1
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 53,324
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record春江水暖鴨先知 春江水暖鸭先知 [chun1 jiang1 shui3 nuan3 ya1 xian1 zhi1] /lit. the duck is the first to know if the spring water is warm (idiom)/fig. an expert in the field knows which way the wind blows/