滄海遺珠

Chinese

	vast ocean; large ocean	to lose; to leave behind	pearl; bead
trad. (滄海遺珠)	滄海	遺	珠
simp. (沧海遗珠)	沧海	遗	珠
Literally: “a pearl left in the ocean”.

Etymology

From the comment of Yan Liben about Di Renjie quoted in New Book of Tang:

仲尼稱觀過知仁，君可謂滄海遺珠矣。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]

仲尼称观过知仁，君可谓沧海遗珠矣。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

From: The New Book of Tang, 1060 CE

Zhòngní chēng guān guò zhī rén, jūn kěwèi cānghǎiyízhū yǐ. [Pinyin]

Confucius said that by observing the mistakes made by a person, it can be known that whether he is kind or not. [Based on what I have observed,] I think that you're like a pearl left in the ocean.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): cānghǎiyízhū
(Zhuyin): ㄘㄤㄏㄞˇ ㄧˊ ㄓㄨ
Cantonese (Jyutping): cong¹ hoi² wai⁴ zyu¹

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: cānghǎiyízhū
  - Zhuyin: ㄘㄤㄏㄞˇ ㄧˊ ㄓㄨ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: canghǎiyíjhu
  - Wade–Giles: tsʻang¹-hai³-i²-chu¹
  - Yale: tsāng-hǎi-yí-jū
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tsanghaeyiju
  - Palladius: цанхайичжу (canxajičžu)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɑŋ⁵⁵ xaɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ i³⁵ ʈ͡ʂu⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: cong¹ hoi² wai⁴ zyu¹
  - Yale: chōng hói wàih jyū
  - Cantonese Pinyin: tsong¹ hoi² wai⁴ dzy¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: cong¹ hoi² wei⁴ ju¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɔːŋ⁵⁵ hɔːi̯³⁵ wɐi̯²¹ t͡ʃyː⁵⁵/

Idiom

滄海遺珠

a person with talent or something valuable, but is neglected by the society