水至清則無魚,人至察則無徒

简 水至清则无鱼,人至察则无徒 · 繁 水至清則無魚,人至察則無徒
Mandarin · pinyin shuǐ zhì qīng zé wú yú , rén zhì chá zé wú tú

Meanings

  1. (saying) water that is too clear has no fish, and one who is too severe has no friends
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Characters in this entry

水
shuǐ · water, liquid, lotion, juice
至
zhì · reach, arrive; extremely, very; Kangxi radical 133
清
qīng · clear, pure, clean; peaceful
則
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無
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魚
yú · fish; surname; Kangxi radical 195
人
rén · man; people; mankind; someone else
察
chá · examine, investigate; notice
徒
tú · disciple, follower; go on foot
则
zé · rule, law, regulation; grades
无
wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71
鱼
yú · fish; surname; Kangxi radical 195
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

水至清則無魚,人至察則無徒 · find source passages ↗ · 水至清则无鱼,人至察则无徒 · find source passages ↗

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水至清則無魚,人至察則無徒 · shui3 zhi4 qing1 ze2 wu2 yu2 , ren2 zhi4 cha2 ze2 wu2 tu2
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 62,497
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record水至清則無魚,人至察則無徒 水至清则无鱼,人至察则无徒 [shui3 zhi4 qing1 ze2 wu2 yu2 , ren2 zhi4 cha2 ze2 wu2 tu2] /(saying) water that is too clear has no fish, and one who is too severe has no friends/