船到橋頭自然直
简 船到桥头自然直 · 繁 船到橋頭自然直Meanings
- lit. when the boat reaches the bridge, it will pass underneath without trouble (proverb)
- fig. everything will be all right
Characters in this entry
- 船
- chuán · ship, boat, vessel
- 到
- dào · go to, arrive, been to
- 橋
- qiáo · bridge; beam, crosspiece
- 頭
- tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
- 自
- zì · self, private, personal; from; Kangxi radical 132
- 然
- rán · yes, certainly; pledge, promise
- 直
- zhí · straight, erect, vertical
- 桥
- qiáo · bridge; beam, crosspiece
- 头
- tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
2–4–2–2–4–2–2 · chuan2 dao4 qiao2 tou2 zi4 ran2 zhi2
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
Read this spelling in Classical texts
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.
船到橋頭自然直 · find source passages ↗ · 船到桥头自然直 · find source passages ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
syun4 dou3 kiu4 tau4 zi6 jin4 zik6
Cantonese word readings for 船到橋頭自然直. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack
Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
proverb
- (figurative) we'll cross that bridge when we come to it; everything will eventually be settled in the end
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack