Monday, July 04, 2022

千字文 / The Thousand Character Classic, part 48

器欲難量

qì yù nán liáng 

"seek to be immeasurably capable"


This one threw me off from the get-go, since I know 器 as "tool" or "instrument." Turns out it also means "capacity" or "capability," which stems from another use of the character as "vessel"—i.e., something capable of holding things.

What I translated as "immeasurably capable" is actually "hard to measure." Same difference, I reckon.


微臣
史大偉

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