Idiom Explanation:
All rivers eventually flow into the sea. It is a metaphor for the general expectation or the trend. It is also a metaphor for many things coming together in one place from dispersion.
Pronunciation:
百川归海
dōng chuāng shì fā
Origin:
西汉·刘安《淮南子·汜论训》：“百川异源，而皆归于海。”
Story:
Liu An, a Chinese thinker and literary scholar of the Western Han Dynasty, was the grandson of Liu Bang, the Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, and inherited his father’s title as the King of Huainan. He loved to read and play the qin, and was so talented that he gathered thousands of guests and people who knew astronomy, medicine, calendars and divination to write a book of hundreds of thousands of words called Hong Lie, also known as Huainanzi.
The Huainanzi has an article called “Flood Discipline”, which talks about the development of human society, and its basic ideas are in line with historical materialism. In the article, it is written, “A hundred rivers have different sources, and all return to the sea.” This article had mentioned the following.
Our ancestors earlier lived in caves and next to water, dressed very modestly and lived a very hard life. Then some sages came out and led people to build houses, so that people came out of the caves and lived in houses where they could escape from the rain and the heat. The sages also taught people to make farming tools and weapons for farming and hunting beasts, so that people’s life was more secure than before.
Later, the sages also made rituals and music, and laid down various rules, so that people had etiquette and restraint. From this, we can see that society is constantly evolving and people do not always live in one way. Therefore, if an ancient system is no longer suitable for use, it should be abolished; and if it is suitable for use now, it should be promoted. All of the above shows that, like a thousand rivers that come from different sources, but in the end all flow back into the sea, each one does different things, but they all seek to better govern society and live a better life.
Similar Idioms:
- 露出马脚
- 走漏风声
