千里之堤，潰於蟻穴

千里之堤，潰於蟻穴

Chinese

		one thousand li; any great distance; fine horse one thousand li; any great distance; fine horse; fine steed; fast horse	's; him/her/it; this	dike		be dispersed; break down	in; at; to in; at; to; from; by; than; out of; surname	ant colony; ant nest
trad. (千里之堤，潰於蟻穴)		千里	之	堤	，	潰	於	蟻穴
simp. (千里之堤，溃于蚁穴)		千里	之	堤	，	溃	于	蚁穴
Literally: “a thousand-li dyke can collapse because of an ant colony”.

Etymology

From Han Feizi (韓非子·喻老):

千丈之堤，以螻蟻之穴潰；百尺之室，以突隙之煙焚。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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千丈之堤，以蝼蚁之穴溃；百尺之室，以突隙之烟焚。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Han Feizi, circa 2^nd century BCE

Qiān zhàng zhī dī, yǐ lóuyǐ zhī xué kuì; bǎi chǐ zhī shì, yǐ tū xì zhī yān fén. [Pinyin]

A thousand-zhang dyke can collapse because of an ant colony; A hundred-chi mansion can be burnt by smoke coming out from a chimney crack.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): qiānlǐzhīdī, kuìyúyǐxué, qiānlǐzhītí, kuìyúyǐxuè

  (Zhuyin): ㄑㄧㄢ ㄌㄧˇ ㄓ ㄉㄧ, ㄎㄨㄟˋ ㄩˊ ㄧˇ ㄒㄩㄝˊ, ㄑㄧㄢ ㄌㄧˇ ㄓ ㄊㄧˊ, ㄎㄨㄟˋ ㄩˊ ㄧˇ ㄒㄩㄝˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): cin¹ lei⁵ zi¹ tai⁴, kui² jyu¹ ngai⁵ jyut⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, standard in Mainland)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: qiānlǐzhīdī, kuìyúyǐxué
    • Zhuyin: ㄑㄧㄢ ㄌㄧˇ ㄓ ㄉㄧ, ㄎㄨㄟˋ ㄩˊ ㄧˇ ㄒㄩㄝˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cianlǐjhihdi, kuèiyúyǐsyué
    • Wade–Giles: chʻien¹-li³-chih¹-ti¹- kʻuei⁴-yü²-i³-hsüeh²
    • Yale: chyān-lǐ-jr̄-dī-, kwèi-yú-yǐ-sywé
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chianliijydi, kueyyuyiishyue
    • Palladius: цяньличжиди, куйюйисюэ (cjanʹličžidi, kujjujisjue)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰjɛn⁵⁵ li²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ ti⁵⁵ kʰweɪ̯⁵¹ y³⁵ i²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ ɕɥɛ³⁵/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, standard in Taiwan; variant in Mainland)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: qiānlǐzhītí, kuìyúyǐxuè
    • Zhuyin: ㄑㄧㄢ ㄌㄧˇ ㄓ ㄊㄧˊ, ㄎㄨㄟˋ ㄩˊ ㄧˇ ㄒㄩㄝˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cianlǐjhihtí, kuèiyúyǐsyuè
    • Wade–Giles: chʻien¹-li³-chih¹-tʻi²- kʻuei⁴-yü²-i³-hsüeh⁴
    • Yale: chyān-lǐ-jr̄-tí-, kwèi-yú-yǐ-sywè
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chianliijytyi, kueyyuyiishiueh
    • Palladius: цяньличжити, куйюйисюэ (cjanʹličžiti, kujjujisjue)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰjɛn⁵⁵ li²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ tʰi³⁵ kʰweɪ̯⁵¹ y³⁵ i²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ ɕɥɛ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: cin¹ lei⁵ zi¹ tai⁴, kui² jyu¹ ngai⁵ jyut⁶
    • Yale: chīn léih jī tàih, kúi yū ngáih yuht
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsin¹ lei⁵ dzi¹ tai⁴, kui² jy¹ ngai⁵ jyt⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: qin¹ léi⁵ ji¹ tei⁴, kui² yu¹ ngei⁵ yud⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰiːn⁵⁵ lei̯¹³ t͡siː⁵⁵ tʰɐi̯²¹ kʰuːi̯³⁵ jyː⁵⁵ ŋɐi̯¹³ jyːt̚²/

Proverb

千里之堤，潰於蟻穴

1. a small mistake can lead to a massive disaster