What does the Chinese idiom 井底之蛙 mean?

井底之蛙 (jǐng dǐ zhī wā) means “a frog at the bottom of a well.” The frog can only see the patch of sky above the well, so the idiom describes someone with a narrow view of the world. People also use it about themselves, as a reminder not to be too sure of what they know.

What is the moral of The Frog in the Well?

The world is far bigger than what we can see from our own corner. Like the frog, we shouldn’t take the little we know for everything; there is always more to see and learn.

Where does the story of the frog in the well come from?

It comes from the “Autumn Floods” chapter of the Zhuangzi, in the story of the frog in a shallow well (埳井之蛙). The frog boasts to a turtle from the Eastern Sea and is astonished when the turtle describes the sea. Later people called this frog 井底之蛙. The same chapter also says you cannot talk to a frog in a well about the sea, because it is limited by the place it lives.

Is The Frog in the Well a Chinese folktale?

It is a Chinese idiom, but not a folktale. It comes from the Zhuangzi, a book of philosophy more than two thousand years old, where it is a comparison used to make a point. It was later retold in many versions for children.

The Frog in the Well (井底之蛙)

Ages 4–8
English audio 2 min
Mandarin audio 3 min

The Frog in the Well is a classic story from Chinese Idiom Stories for Kids, for children aged 4–8. This page has the English story with a native English narration (about 2 min), plus the Chinese version with Mandarin narration (about 3 min). Free to read and listen, no sign-up.

A little frog thinks his shallow well is the best place in the world, until a big sea turtle tells him how vast the sea is. The idiom story 井底之蛙 in English and Chinese, with narration.

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Read The Frog in the Well

Once upon a time, there was an old, shallow well. A little frog lived at the bottom.

The frog loved his well. When he was happy, he jumped up to the edge. When he was tired, he rested between the bricks. The water came up to his chin. The mud was soft under his feet. "Nobody is as happy as me!" he said.

One day, a big sea turtle came by. He was from the East Sea.

"Hello, Mr. Turtle!" called the frog. "This well is all mine. It is wonderful! Come down and see!"

The turtle smiled and lifted his left foot. But before his foot was in, his right knee got stuck in the well! So he slowly stepped back.

"Thank you," said the turtle. "Now let me tell you about my home, the sea. It is so big that you can swim for days and never reach the other side. It is so deep that a mountain could fit inside."

"Long ago, it rained for years and years, but the sea did not get any bigger. Then there was no rain for years, but the sea did not get any smaller. In the sea, I can swim as far as I like. That is my happiness."

The frog's mouth fell open. He did not say a word. The world outside was so big!

That night, the frog looked up at the little round sky above his well. He saw a few stars. "What does the sea look like?" he whispered. "One day, I will go and see it."

The Chinese version: 井底之蛙

从前，有一口又浅又旧的井，井壁上的砖头缺了好几块。井底住着一只小青蛙。

小青蛙觉得，自己的井是天下最快乐的地方。高兴了，它就跳到井沿上蹦一蹦；累了，就钻进砖缝里歇一歇。跳进水里，水刚好托住它的胳肢窝和下巴；踩进泥里，软软的泥刚好没过它的小脚背。它看看井里的小红虫、小螃蟹和小蝌蚪，心想：“谁也没有我过得快活！”

有一天，一只大海龟从东海那边慢慢爬过来，在井边歇脚。小青蛙一看来了客人，高兴地喊：“海龟大哥，你好呀！这口井全归我一个人管，好玩极了。你为什么不下来看看呢？”

大海龟笑了笑，抬起左脚，想往井里迈。可是它的左脚还没伸进去，右边的膝盖就被井口卡住了。它只好慢慢地、慢慢地退了回来。

大海龟在井边坐下，对小青蛙说：“谢谢你请我。我也给你讲讲我的家吧。我住在东海。东海有多大呢？你从这一头游，游上好多好多天，也游不到那一头。东海有多深呢？把一座大山放进去，也碰不到海底。”

“很久很久以前，有好多年天天下大雨，海水一点儿也没有涨高；后来又有好多年不下雨，海水也一点儿没有变少。在大海里，想游多远就游多远，想潜多深就潜多深。这就是住在东海的快乐呀。”

小青蛙听呆了。它张着嘴巴，眨巴着眼睛，半天说不出一句话来。原来，井外面还有这么大、这么大的地方！

那天晚上，小青蛙趴在井底，抬起头，望着井口那一小块圆圆的天空，还有天上的几颗星星。它小声地说：“大海到底是什么样子的呢？总有一天，我也要跳出去看一看。”

The Frog in the Well (井底之蛙): the moral of the story

The world is much bigger than what we can see from where we are. Don’t take what you know for all there is; keep looking, listening and learning.

What does The Frog in the Well mean?: Literally “a frog at the bottom of a well”: 井 (jǐng) well, 底 (dǐ) bottom, 之 (zhī) an old word for “of,” 蛙 (wā) frog. From the bottom of a well, a frog sees only a small circle of sky. The idiom describes someone with a narrow view who thinks the little they know is the whole world.
Example sentence: Xiaoliang thought his apartment building was the tallest in the world. After his first trip to a big city, he laughed: “I was a real 井底之蛙 (jǐng dǐ zhī wā).”

The original Chinese text of The Frog in the Well

子独不闻夫埳井之蛙乎？谓东海之鳖曰：“吾乐与！出跳梁乎井干之上，入休乎缺甃之崖；赴水则接腋持颐，蹶泥则没足灭跗；还虷蟹与科斗，莫吾能若也。且夫擅一壑之水，而跨跱埳井之乐，此亦至矣。夫子奚不时来入观乎？”东海之鳖左足未入，而右膝已絷矣。于是逡巡而却，告之海曰：“夫千里之远，不足以举其大；千仞之高，不足以极其深。禹之时十年九潦，而水弗为加益；汤之时八年七旱，而崖不为加损。夫不为顷久推移，不以多少进退者，此亦东海之大乐也。”于是埳井之蛙闻之，适适然惊，规规然自失也。

— 《庄子·秋水》

Our translation

Haven’t you heard of the frog in the shallow well? It said to the turtle of the Eastern Sea, “How happy I am! When I go out, I hop about on the railing of the well; when I come in, I rest where a brick is missing from the wall. When I jump into the water, it holds me up under the arms and chin; when I kick into the mud, it buries my feet right over the tops. I look around at the wrigglers, the crabs and the tadpoles, and none of them can match me. To have all the water of this hollow to myself and to lord it over the pleasures of a shallow well: nothing could be better. Why don’t you come in sometime, sir, and see?” But before the turtle of the Eastern Sea had got its left foot in, its right knee was already stuck. So it edged back out and told the frog about the sea: “Go a thousand li and you have not measured its width; go down a thousand fathoms and you have not reached its depth. In the days of Yu the Great there were floods nine years out of ten, yet its water rose no higher; in the days of King Tang there were droughts seven years out of eight, yet its shores drew back no farther. Not to shift with a short time or a long one, not to rise or fall with more water or less: this is the great joy of the Eastern Sea.” When the frog of the shallow well heard this, it was startled and dismayed, and stood there at a loss.

— Zhuangzi, “Autumn Floods” (Warring States period)

Chinese words in The Frog in the Well

Play the Chinese narration and listen for these words. The pinyin shows the tones.

井底之蛙jǐng dǐ zhī wā
a frog at the bottom of a well
井jǐng
well
青蛙qīng wā
frog
螃蟹páng xiè
crab
蝌蚪kē dǒu
tadpole
海龟hǎi guī
sea turtle
大海dà hǎi
the sea
星星xīng xing
star

Bedtime storytelling tips

Give the frog a small, proud voice and the sea turtle a slow, deep one, like a grandfather who has seen the world.
When the turtle describes the sea, open your arms wide. Then ask your child to show with their hands how big the top of the well is.
Afterward, make a small circle with your hands and look at the room through it “from the bottom of the well.” Then drop your hands and talk about how much more you can see.

Things to talk about afterwards

Why did the little frog think his well was the happiest place in the world?
Why couldn’t the turtle get into the well? What did he tell the frog about the sea?
If the frog really jumped out to see the sea, what do you think he would find?

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The Frog in the Well (井底之蛙): common questions

What does the Chinese idiom 井底之蛙 mean?: 井底之蛙 (jǐng dǐ zhī wā) means “a frog at the bottom of a well.” The frog can only see the patch of sky above the well, so the idiom describes someone with a narrow view of the world. People also use it about themselves, as a reminder not to be too sure of what they know.
What is the moral of The Frog in the Well?: The world is far bigger than what we can see from our own corner. Like the frog, we shouldn’t take the little we know for everything; there is always more to see and learn.
Where does the story of the frog in the well come from?: It comes from the “Autumn Floods” chapter of the Zhuangzi, in the story of the frog in a shallow well (埳井之蛙). The frog boasts to a turtle from the Eastern Sea and is astonished when the turtle describes the sea. Later people called this frog 井底之蛙. The same chapter also says you cannot talk to a frog in a well about the sea, because it is limited by the place it lives.
Is The Frog in the Well a Chinese folktale?: It is a Chinese idiom, but not a folktale. It comes from the Zhuangzi, a book of philosophy more than two thousand years old, where it is a comparison used to make a point. It was later retold in many versions for children.

Source and how we retold it

From “Autumn Floods,” one of the outer chapters of the Zhuangzi, a book written by the Warring States thinker Zhuang Zhou and his later followers; the original is in the public domain. In the original, Gongzi Mou tells Gongsun Long the story of the frog in a shallow well: the frog boasts to a turtle from the Eastern Sea about its well and invites it in, but before the turtle gets its left foot in, its right knee is stuck, so it backs out and describes the sea. We expanded this into a story for children, made the turtle (鳖, a soft-shelled turtle) a big sea turtle that children know better, put the size and depth of the sea in words children can follow, and added the ending where the frog looks at the stars at night and wants to go and see the sea. The original ends with the frog shocked and at a loss.

The narration on this page is AI-generated: the English is read by 英伦绅士 and the Chinese by 温柔妈妈. The audio files are labeled as AI-generated.

If you liked The Frog in the Well (井底之蛙), there are more stories in Chinese Idiom Stories for Kids. You can also read this one to your child in your own voice.