Mandarin Language Lessons: the Story of Three Monks

Once, there was a mountain far from us. And in the mountain, lived three monks. One day, they felt thirsty and went out to find the water. So, the Chinese old saying “一个和尚挑水喝，两个和尚抬水喝，三个和尚没水喝(yi2 ge4 he2 shang4 tiao1 shui3 he1, liang3 ge4 he2 shang4 tai2 shui3 he1, san1 ge4 he2 shang4 mei2 shui3 he1)” came into being. And in the following mandarin language lessons, I will explain this saying concretely to you.

Because, we are talking about the Chinese language online, during this process, you can learn Chinese characters online anytime and any where.

Let’s get to our business. “一个和尚挑水喝, 两个和尚抬水喝，三个和尚没水喝” mean that one monk can get the drinking water by carrying the water. And two monks will get the water by fetching it tighter. However, if there are three monks, they do not know how to assign the work and finally they will get nothing. As you can see, this story has presented an important idea to us. Whether you can achieve something is determined by how to cooperate with others and how to make your own efforts. It emphasizes the significance of both competition and cooperation. In the similar way, there is an equivalent English saying that is “One boy is a boy, two boys half a boy, three boys no boy”. I think it will helpful to you for your further understanding.

By the way, we need to pay attention to the Chinese character writing of two words. “挑” and “抬” have the similar meaning and similar structure. They both are the verbs which mean carry in English. They share the same radical. “扌” represent the action by using the hand.

This is the story of the three monks. Many people always ask how to learn Chinese on earth. Actually, there is no such a fixed way to learn it. You just need to find a appropriate way and stick to it. Above all, practice makes perfect.