君子の交わりは淡きこと水の如し Entry Discussion Citations Language Download PDF Watch Edit Japanese edit Kanji in this term 君 子 交 淡 水 如 くん Grade: 3 し Grade: 1 まじ Grade: 2 あわ Grade: S みず Grade: 1 ごと Grade: S on'yomi kun'yomi Etymology edit Calque of Literary Chinese 君子之交淡如水 (jūnzǐ zhī jiāo dàn rú shuǐ) from Zhuangzi:

君子之交淡如水，小人之交甘若醴。 The friendship between men of virtue is clear like water (of no flavor, but free of harmful substances – i.e. self-interest). The friendship between lesser men is sweet like wine (lacking true substance). Can be analyzed as follow: 君子 (“man of virtue”) +‎ の +‎ 交わり (“friendship”) +‎ は +‎ 淡き (“flavorless”) +‎ こと +‎ 水 (“water”) +‎ の +‎ 如し (“like”).

Proverb edit 君くん子しの交まじわりは淡あわきこと水みずの如ごとし • (kunshi no majiwari wa awaki koto mizu no gotoshi)

true friendship between two people of accomplishment needs not be overly demonstrative