朽木不可雕

Chinese

	rotten wood; hopeless case; good-for-nothing	cannot; should not; must not	engrave; shrewd
trad. (朽木不可雕)	朽木	不可	雕
simp. ^#(朽木不可雕)	朽木	不可	雕
Literally: “One cannot make a carving from rotten wood.”

Etymology

From the Analects, Book 5 (《論語·公冶長》):

宰予晝寢。子曰：「朽木不可雕也，糞土之牆，不可杇也，於予與何誅。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

宰予昼寝。子曰：「朽木不可雕也，粪土之墙，不可杇也，于予与何诛。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Zǎi Yǔ zhòuqǐn. Zǐyuē: “Xiǔmù bùkě diāo yě, fèntǔ zhī qiáng, bùkě wū yě, yú Yǔ yǔ hé zhū.” [Pinyin]

Zai Yu being asleep during the daytime, the Master said, "Rotten wood cannot be carved; a wall of dirty earth will not receive the trowel. This Yu! — what is the use of my reproving him?"

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): xiǔmù bùkě diāo

(Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄡˇ ㄇㄨˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄎㄜˇ ㄉㄧㄠ
Cantonese (Jyutping): nau² muk⁶ bat¹ ho² diu¹

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: xiǔmù bùkě diāo
  - Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄡˇ ㄇㄨˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄎㄜˇ ㄉㄧㄠ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: siǒumù bùkě diao
  - Wade–Giles: hsiu³-mu⁴ pu⁴-kʻo³ tiao¹
  - Yale: syǒu-mù bù-kě dyāu
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sheoumuh bukee diau
  - Palladius: сюму букэ дяо (sjumu bukɛ djao)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯oʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ mu⁵¹⁻⁵³ pu⁵¹ kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ ti̯ɑʊ̯⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: nau² muk⁶ bat¹ ho² diu¹
  - Yale: náu muhk bāt hó dīu
  - Cantonese Pinyin: nau² muk⁹ bat⁷ ho² diu¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: neo² mug⁶ bed¹ ho² diu¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /nɐu̯³⁵ mʊk̚² pɐt̚⁵ hɔː³⁵ tiːu̯⁵⁵/

Proverb

朽木不可雕

You can’t teach a student that doesn’t have the aptitude.