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Mark the boat to find the lost sword / Ignoring the changing circumstances of the world
刻舟求劍 is an originally-Chinese proverb that serves as a warning to people that things are always in a state of change.
Thus, you must consider that and not depend on the old ways or a way that may have worked in the past but is no longer valid.
This idiom/proverb comes from the following story:
A man was traveling in a ferry boat across a river. With him, he carried a treasured sword. Along the way, the man became overwhelmed and intoxicated by the beautiful view and accidentally dropped his prized sword into the river. Thinking quickly, he pulled out a knife and marked on the rail of the boat where exactly he had lost his sword.
When the boat arrived on the other side of the river, the man jumped out of the boat and searched for his sword right under where he'd made the mark. Of course, the boat had moved a great distance since he made the mark, and thus, he could not find the sword.
While this man may seem foolhardy, we must take a great lesson from this parable: Circumstances change, so one should use methods to handle the change. In modern China, this is used in business to mean that one should not depend on old business models for a changing market.
This proverb dates back to the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC) of the territory now known as China. It has spread and is somewhat known in Japan and Korea.
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Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your parable search...
| Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
譬 see styles |
pì pi4 p`i pi hi |
to give an example To compare, allegorize; like, resembling; parable, metaphor, simile. |
七子 see styles |
qī zǐ qi1 zi3 ch`i tzu chi tzu fumiko ふみこ |
(female given name) Fumiko The parable in the Nirvana Sutra of the sick son whose parents, though they love all their sons equally, devote themselves to him. So does the Buddha specially care for sinners. The seven sons are likened to mankind, devas, sravakas, pratyeka-buddhas, and the three kinds of bodhisattvas of the 藏, 通 and 別教. |
例え see styles |
tatoe たとえ |
(1) example; (2) simile; metaphor; allegory; fable; parable |
光宅 see styles |
guāng zhái guang1 zhai2 kuang chai Kōtaku |
Kuang-chai, name of the temple where 法雲 Fa-yun early in the sixth century wrote his commentary on the Lotus Sutra, which is known as the 光宅疏; 光宅 became his epithet. He made a division of four yāna from the Burning House parable, the goat cart representing the śrāvaka, the deer cart the pratyekabuddha, the ox-cart the Hīnayāna bodhisattva, and the great white ox-cart the Mahāyāna bodhisattva; a division adopted by T'ien-t'ai. |
喩え see styles |
tatoe たとえ |
(1) example; (2) simile; metaphor; allegory; fable; parable |
喩品 see styles |
yù pǐn yu4 pin3 yü p`in yü pin Yuhon |
Parable Chapter |
四教 see styles |
sì jiào si4 jiao4 ssu chiao shikyō |
Four teachings, doctrines, or schools; five groups are given, whose titles are abbreviated to 光天曉苑龍: (1) 光宅四教 The four schools of 法雲 Fayun of the 光宅 Guangzhai monastery are the four vehicles referred to in the burning house parable of the Lotus Sutra, i. e. śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, bodhisattva, and the final or one vehicle teaching. (2) 天台四教 The Tiantai four are 藏通, 別, and 圓, v. 八教. (3) 曉公四教 The group of 元曉 Wŏnhyo of 海東 Haedong are the 三乘別教 represented by the 四諦緣起經; 三乘通教 represented by the 般若深密教; 一乘分教 represented by the 究網經; and 一乘滿教 represented by the 華嚴經. (4) 苑公四教 The group of 慧苑 Huiyuan: the schools of unbelievers, who are misled and mislead; of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas who know only the phenomenal bhūtatathatā; of novitiate bodhisattvas who know only the noumenal bhūtatathatā; and of fully developed bodhisattvas, who know both. (5) 龍樹四教 Nāgārjuna's division of the canon into 有 dealing with existence, or reality, cf. the 四阿含; 空 the Void, cf. 般若經; 亦有亦 空 both, cf. 深密經; and 非有非 空 neither, cf. 中論. |
四蛇 see styles |
sì shé si4 she2 ssu she shida |
idem 四毒蛇. The Fanyimingyi under this heading gives the parable of a man who fled from the two bewildering forms of life and death, and climbed down a rope (of life) 命根, into the well of impermanence 無常, where two mice, night and day, gnawed the rattan rope; on the four sides four snakes 四蛇 sought to poison him, i. e. the 四大 or four elements of his physical nature); below were three dragons 三毒龍 breathing fire and trying to seize him. On looking up he saw that two 象 elephants (darkness and light) had come to the mouth of the well; he was in despair, when a bee flew by and dropped some honey (the five desires 五欲) into his mouth, which he ate and entirely forgot his peril. |
大車 大车 see styles |
dà chē da4 che1 ta ch`e ta che ooguruma おおぐるま |
(surname) Ooguruma The great bullock-cart in the parable of the burning house, i.e. Mahāyāna, v. Lotus Sutra. |
微喩 see styles |
wēi yù wei1 yu4 wei yü miyu |
a trivial parable |
比喩 see styles |
bǐ yú bi3 yu2 pi yü hiyu ひゆ |
simile; metaphor; allegory; parable metaphor |
比諭 see styles |
hiyu ひゆ |
simile; metaphor; allegory; parable |
火宅 see styles |
huǒ zhái huo3 zhai2 huo chai kataku かたく |
{Buddh} this world of suffering The parable of the burning house; one of the 'seven parables' in the Lotus Sutra 譬喩品, that of the burning house from which the owner tempts his heedless children by the device of the three kinds of carts— goat, deer, and bullock, especially a white-bullock cart i. e. Mahāyāna. |
筏喩 see styles |
fá yù fa2 yu4 fa yü batsuyu |
Raft parable. Buddha's teaching is like a raft, a means of crossing the river, the raft being left when the crossing has been made. |
羊車 羊车 see styles |
yáng chē yang2 che1 yang ch`e yang che yōsha |
羊乘 The inferior, or śrāvaka, form of Buddhism, v. Lotus Sūtra, in the parable of the burning house. |
藁幹 藁干 see styles |
gǎo gàn gao3 gan4 kao kan kōkan |
The farmer farms for grain, not for straw, but also gets the latter, a parable. |
諷喻 讽喻 see styles |
fěng yù feng3 yu4 feng yü |
parable; allegory; satire |
譬え see styles |
tatoe たとえ |
(1) example; (2) simile; metaphor; allegory; fable; parable |
譬喩 see styles |
pì yù pi4 yu4 p`i yü pi yü hiyu ひゆ |
(ik) simile; metaphor; allegory; parable A parable, metaphor; the avadāna section of the canon, v. 阿波; there are numerous categories, e.g. the seven parables of the Lotus Sūtra, the ten of the Prajñā and Vimalakīrti sūtras, etc. |
譬話 see styles |
tatoebanashi たとえばなし |
allegory; fable; parable |
譬諭 see styles |
hiyu ひゆ keiyu / keyu けいゆ |
(ik) simile; metaphor; allegory; parable |
醫子 医子 see styles |
yī zǐ yi1 zi3 i tzu ishi |
The parable of the healing of his poisoned sons by the doctor in the Lotus Sutra. |
髻珠 see styles |
jì zhū ji4 zhu1 chi chu |
髻寶 The precious stone worn in the 髻 topknot; a king's most prized possession in the Lotus Sūtra parable. |
三車喩 三车喩 see styles |
sān chē yù san1 che1 yu4 san ch`e yü san che yü san sha yu |
parable of the three carts |
例え話 see styles |
tatoebanashi たとえばなし |
allegory; fable; parable |
化城品 see styles |
huà chéng pǐn hua4 cheng2 pin3 hua ch`eng p`in hua cheng pin kejō bon |
Chapter of [the Parable of] the Conjured City (Lotus Sūtra) |
化城喩 see styles |
huà chéng yù hua4 cheng2 yu4 hua ch`eng yü hua cheng yü kejō yu |
parable of the conjured city |
大牛車 大牛车 see styles |
dà niú chē da4 niu2 che1 ta niu ch`e ta niu che dai gyū sha |
The great ox cart in the Lotus Sutra 法華經 parable of the burning house, i.e. Mahāyāna. |
毒箭喩 see styles |
dú jiàn yù du2 jian4 yu4 tu chien yü dokusen yu |
parable of the poisoned arrow |
火宅喩 see styles |
huǒ zhái yù huo3 zhai2 yu4 huo chai yü kataku yu |
the parable of the burning house |
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The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
| Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
| Mark the boat to find the lost sword Ignoring the changing circumstances of the world | 刻舟求劍 刻舟求剑 | kokushuukyuuken kokushukyuken | kè zhōu qiú jiàn ke4 zhou1 qiu2 jian4 ke zhou qiu jian kezhouqiujian | k`o chou ch`iu chien kochouchiuchien ko chou chiu chien |
| In some entries above you will see that characters have different versions above and below a line. In these cases, the characters above the line are Traditional Chinese, while the ones below are Simplified Chinese. | ||||
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