姜太公釣魚，願者上釣 (goeng1 taai3 gung1 diu3 jyu4*2 jyun6 ze2 soeng5 diu3 | jiang1 tai4 gong1 diao4 yu2 yuan4 zhe3 shang4 diao4) : one would do something voluntarily if that's what he wants to do.

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姜太公釣魚，願者上釣

goeng1 taai3 gung1 diu3 jyu4*2 jyun6 ze2 soeng5 diu3

jiang1 tai4 gong1 diao4 yu2 yuan4 zhe3 shang4 diao4

one would do something voluntarily if that's what he wants to do:

[Lit.] Jiang Taigong go fishing, those who want (to be caught), will get on the hook (voluntarily).

It's a idiom to describe a person's attitude when he does not put much effort to attract or to get other people to do something. Instead, he just stays patient and waits for someone to do it out of one's own free will.

The story was Jiang Taigong (Jiang Ziya, a historical figure) went fishing, but he only used a hook without any bait at all. According to Jiang's philosophy, bait was unnecessary. "If the fish wants to be caught, the fish will get itself hooked voluntarily."

Level: 4
This term is used in both Cantonese and Mandarin/Standard written Chinese.

姜太公釣魚，願者上釣 / 姜太公钓鱼，愿者上钓

This word has been viewed 6972 times since 30th Oct 2012, was added by kath on 12th Dec 2009 15:09 and last edited on 12th Dec 2009 15:15

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Characters in this word:

姜 goeng1 - ginger
太 taai3 - highest; great-grand; excessively
公 gung1 - public; common; international; impartial
釣 diu3 - fish; fishhook; lure; tempt
魚 jyu4 - fish
， - (not in database)
願 jyun6 - wish, hope, desire
者 ze2 - he who; those who
上 soeng6 soeng5 - upper; superior; preceding; up; on
釣 diu3 - fish; fishhook; lure; tempt

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Decimal representation of this word: 姜太公釣魚，願者上釣

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