水 至 清 则 无 鱼，人 至 察 则 无 徒

shuǐ zhì qīng zé wú yú , rén zhì chá zé wú túdictionary entry

(saying) water that is too clear has no fish, and one who is too severe has no friends

Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-47e45c4942601c8f. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

水至清則無魚，人至察則無徒 水至清则无鱼，人至察则无徒 [shui3 zhi4 qing1 ze2 wu2 yu2 , ren2 zhi4 cha2 ze2 wu2 tu2] /(saying) water that is too clear has no fish, and one who is too severe has no friends/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

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Other forms in these source records: 水至清則無魚，人至察則無徒

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.