"All in vain" — Phrase of the Week
House prices fall in major cities
Our phrase of the week is: "all in vain" (竹篮打水一场空 zhúlán dǎshuǐ yì chǎng kōng).
Context
China's housing market has seen prices falling since the last quarter of 2023.
In February 2024, according to research being discussed in the Chinese media this week, the sales prices of residential properties continued to decline in 70 large and medium-sized cities in China.
The steepest drop was in first-tier cities with Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen seeing house prices fall of 0.9%, 0.6%, 1.0%, and 0.5% respectively.
In a market where there is “no lowest price, only the price lower than the last” (没有最低只有更低 méiyǒu zuìdī zhǐyǒu gèng dī) home owners are faced with the choice of selling below the asking price, or keeping their money tied up in an asset which is losing value.
An interview with a homeowner in Beijing, Zhāng Wěi 章伟, who has recently sold his house, epitomizes the experiences of many people in China:
On the day Zhang Wei returned home after signing the contract, his mother happened to be in Beijing to help take care of his kids.
As he walked in and saw his mother, he couldn't help but feel the weight of his parents' struggles and the money they borrowed just to buy this house.
That money they had saved over decades is simply gone like the water drawn with a bamboo basket. Zhang Wei felt so bad.
章伟签完合同回家的那天，母亲正好来北京陪看孩子。进门看到母亲，想到为了买下这个房子父母操心前后的奔波、借钱，他们几十年辛苦攒下的钱，转头变成竹篮打水一场空，章伟心里的难受达到了顶点。
Zhāng Wěi qiān wán hétóng huíjiā de nàtiān, mǔqīn zhènghǎo lái Běijīng péikàn háizi. Jìnmén kàndào mǔqīn, xiǎngdào wèile mǎixià zhège fángzi fùmǔ cāoxīn qiánhòu de bēnbō, jièqián, tāmen jǐshí nián xīnkǔ zǎnxià de qián, zhuǎntóu biànchéngle zhú lán dǎ shuǐ yì chǎng kōng, Zhāng Wěi xīnlǐ de nánsòu dádào le dǐngdiǎn.
And with that we have our Sinica Phrase of the Week.
What it means
"Gone like the water drawn with a bamboo basket" is a colloquial phrase which translates as "bamboo basket drawing water" (竹篮打水 zhúlán dǎshuǐ ), "totally empty" (一场空 yì chǎng kōng).
It's a common phrase in spoken and written language.
The metaphor describes a situation when much effort has been made for little output or effect.
There are a number of suggested sources for this phrase. The most likely is in "The Complete Story of the Meis" (二度梅全传 èr dù méi quán zhuàn), a Qing Dynasty novel written in vernacular Chinese. The novel recounts the story of Méi Kuí 梅魁, a government official in the Tang Dynasty, who was executed for opposing the corrupt Lú Qǐ 卢杞, a powerful official at the time.
With six volumes and forty chapters, the book is attributed to "the editors from Xiyin Hall" (惜阴堂主人编辑 xīyīn táng zhǔrén biānjí) whose identities remain unknown. It was written in the early years of the reign of the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty around the middle of the 18th century.
Our Phrase of the Week is found in the Chapter 15 of The Complete Story of the Meis:
"Today, the young lady has seen the true face of this young man. I'm afraid that if the master betrothed the young lady to him, we will have wasted all our efforts on her?"
这个孩子今日被小姐看出他的面目来了，只怕老爷要将小姐许配与他，你我不是竹蓝打水一场空吗？
Zhè ge háizi jīnrì bèi xiǎojiě kàn chū tā de miànmù lái le, zhǐpà lǎoyé yào jiāng xiǎojiě xǔpèi yǔ tā, nǐ wǒ búshì zhúlán dǎshuǐ yì chǎng kōng ma?
It's a discussion between two characters about the matchmaking of a young lady, who is later betrothed to the son of Mei Kui.
In the context of China's housing market today, the sense of many homeowners is the same: they have invested huge amounts in their homes only to see prices fall.
Their investments have been all in vain, just like trying to carry water in a bamboo basket.
Andrew Methven is the author of RealTime Mandarin, a resource to helping you learn contemporary Chinese in context, and stay on top of the latest language trends in China.
Read more about how this story is being discussed in the Chinese media in this week’s RealTime Mandarin.