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姜太公釣魚,願者上釣
  goeng1 taai3 gung1 diu3 jyu4*2 jyun6 ze2 soeng5 diu3   jyutping
  jiang1 tai4 gong1 diao4 yu2 yuan4 zhe3 shang4 diao4   pinyin
one would do something voluntarily if that's what he wants to do:

[Lit.] Jiang Taigong go fishing, those who want (to be caught), will get on the hook (voluntarily).

It's a idiom to describe a person's attitude when he does not put much effort to attract or to get other people to do something. Instead, he just stays patient and waits for someone to do it out of one's own free will.

The story was Jiang Taigong (Jiang Ziya, a historical figure) went fishing, but he only used a hook without any bait at all. According to Jiang's philosophy, bait was unnecessary. "If the fish wants to be caught, the fish will get itself hooked voluntarily."
Idiom

Level: 4
This term is used in both Cantonese and Mandarin/Standard written Chinese.
姜太公釣魚,願者上釣 / 姜太公钓鱼,愿者上钓

This word has been viewed 5070 times since 30th Oct 2012, was added by kath on 12th Dec 2009 15:09 and last edited on 12th Dec 2009 15:15
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Characters in this word:

 goeng1  -  ginger
 taai3  -  highest; great-grand; excessively
 gung1  -  public; common; international; impartial
 diu3  -  fish; fishhook; lure; tempt
 jyu4  -  fish
- (not in database)
 jyun6  -  wish, hope, desire
 ze2  -  he who; those who
 soeng6 soeng5  -  upper; superior; preceding; up; on
 diu3  -  fish; fishhook; lure; tempt
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Copyright Adam Sheik 2003-2024.