​Water（水）

Water(水),a natural source of power,is represented by a pictograph of surging waters with a central mainstream and four whirls. A variant form,using only three drops(氵),operates as radical to induce a flood of “watery” characters. To this day, the proverbial saying is afloat: “Water can support a ship,and water can upset it.”

象形字的“水”，就像水流的样子。中间的竖勾是从水的主流变来的，两边原本是四条曲线，代表水滴和浪花。“水”字的一个变体是三点水(氵)，以氵作为偏旁，产生了大量和水有关的汉字。直到今天，还流传着那句有关水的谚语：“水能载舟，亦能覆舟。”

Spilt Water Cannot Be Retrieved

This allusion originates partly in folklore and partly from “the Biography of Zhu Maichen(朱买臣)”in the History of the Han Dynasty.

Zhu Maichen was very poor when he was young. Seeing no future for him, his wife left him.His fortunes revived,however,and he was appointed governor of his home region.Once,he met his former wife and her second husband in the street. The woman asked him to take her back,but Zhu Maichen splashed water on the ground,and told her if she could retrieve the water,their marriage could be resumed.

Later, this allusion came to be used to describe an irrevocable action or decision.

[本段英文翻译：周苓仲]

覆水难收

这个典故出自民间故事以及《汉书·朱买臣传》。

西汉时，朱买臣家境贫寒，妻子崔氏嫌他不会有出头之日，就弃他而去改嫁了。后来朱买臣改变了命运，得到汉武帝赏识，被任命为他故乡（会稽）的太守。有一次，他在路上遇到前妻崔氏和她的第二任丈夫。崔氏拦住马车磕头请罪，希望能够复婚。朱买臣让手下人取过一盆水泼到地上，对崔氏说：“你若能把倒出的水收回来到盆里，我就和你破镜重圆。”

这个成语比喻事情已成定局，无法改变，不可挽回。

 “Analysis of Chinese Characters by bilingual”，is opened for the convenience of Chinese and foreign friends who are interested in Chinese characters. We’ll push a Chinese character every Monday，analyze its originand related culture. If there is any impropriety，welcome to correct us.

为方便对汉字感兴趣的中国朋友和外国朋友，我们新开设了《双语解字》栏目。每周一推送一个汉字的来历和相关文化，如果其中有不恰当的地方，欢迎中外朋友指正。