退一步海闊天空

退一步海闊天空

See also: 退一步海阔天空

Chinese

		retreat; to decline; to move back retreat; to decline; to move back; to withdraw	one step; a single step	as boundless as the sea and sky; unrestrained and far-ranging
trad. (退一步海闊天空)		退	一步	海闊天空
simp. (退一步海阔天空)		退	一步	海阔天空
Literally: “Take one step back, (and you will see) the vastness of the sea and sky”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): tuì yī bù hǎikuòtiānkōng

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄨㄟˋ ㄧ ㄅㄨˋ ㄏㄞˇ ㄎㄨㄛˋ ㄊㄧㄢ ㄎㄨㄥ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): teoi³ jat¹ bou⁶ hoi² fut³ tin¹ hung¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: tuì yī bù hǎikuòtiānkōng [Phonetic: tuì yí bù hǎikuòtiānkōng]
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄨㄟˋ ㄧ ㄅㄨˋ ㄏㄞˇ ㄎㄨㄛˋ ㄊㄧㄢ ㄎㄨㄥ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tuey i buh haekuohtiankong
    • IPA ^(key): /tʰu̯eɪ̯⁵¹ i⁵⁵⁻³⁵ pu⁵¹ xaɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ kʰu̯ɔ⁵¹ tʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ kʰʊŋ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: teoi³ jat¹ bou⁶ hoi² fut³ tin¹ hung¹
    • Yale: teui yāt bouh hói fut tīn hūng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: toey³ jat⁷ bou⁶ hoi² fut⁸ tin¹ hung¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: têu³ yed¹ bou⁶ hoi² fud³ tin¹ hung¹
    • IPA ^(key): /tʰɵy̯³³ jɐt̚⁵ pou̯²² hɔːy̯³⁵ fuːt̚³ tʰiːn⁵⁵ hʊŋ⁵⁵/

Proverb

退一步海闊天空

1. Sometimes, if you're working too much to solve a problem, it helps to step back from it, and new solutions will often present themselves.
2. Yielding (taking a step back), to someone else may make your future that much brighter/easier.