差若毫釐,謬以千里

Chinese

differ from; short of; to lack
differ from; short of; to lack; poor; send; a messenger; a mission; to commission; uneven; difference; discrepancy; to differ; error; to err; to make a mistake
 
to seem; like; as
to seem; like; as; if
 
hair; drawing brush; (in the) least
hair; drawing brush; (in the) least; one thousandth
 
centi- absurd; erroneous
to use; according to; so as to
to use; according to; so as to; in order to; by; with; because; Israel (abbrev.)
 
one thousand li; any great distance; fine horse
one thousand li; any great distance; fine horse; fine steed; fast horse
 
trad. (差若毫釐,謬以千里) 千里
simp. (差若毫厘,谬以千里) 千里

Etymology

From the Book of Rites, which apparently paraphrases the Classic of Changes:

Pronunciation

  • Mandarin
    (Pinyin): chāruòháolí, miùyǐqiānlǐ
    (Zhuyin): ㄔㄚ ㄖㄨㄛˋ ㄏㄠˊ ㄌㄧˊ , ㄇㄧㄡˋ ㄧˇ ㄑㄧㄢ ㄌㄧˇ
  • Cantonese (Jyutping): caa1 joek6 hou4 lei4, mau6 ji5 cin1 lei5

  • Mandarin
    • (Standard Chinese)+
      • Hanyu Pinyin: chāruòháolí, miùyǐqiānlǐ
      • Zhuyin: ㄔㄚ ㄖㄨㄛˋ ㄏㄠˊ ㄌㄧˊ , ㄇㄧㄡˋ ㄧˇ ㄑㄧㄢ ㄌㄧˇ
      • Tongyong Pinyin: charuòháolí, miòuyǐcianlǐ
      • Wade–Giles: chʻa1-jo4-hao2-li2, miu4-i3-chʻien1-li3
      • Yale: chā-rwò-háu-lí-, myòu-yǐ-chyān-lǐ
      • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: charuohhaurli, miowyiichianlii
      • Palladius: чажохаоли, мюицяньли (čažoxaoli, mjuicjanʹli)
      • Sinological IPA (key): /ʈ͡ʂʰä⁵⁵ ʐu̯ɔ⁵¹ xɑʊ̯³⁵ li³⁵ mi̯oʊ̯⁵¹ i²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ li²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
  • Cantonese

Proverb

差若毫釐,謬以千里

  1. small discrepancies lead to great errors

Descendants

  • Vietnamese: sai một li đi một dặm (calque)