Rice bowls of iron and gold
Food and eating are common components in Chinese idiomatic expressions and what can be more basic than the bowl you eat rice out of? This has given rise to two different expressions: ??? (tiefànwan) "iron rice bowl" and ??? (jinfànwan) "golden rice bowl".
??? (tiefànwan) "iron rice bowl"
As the name implies, ??? (tiefànwan) refers to a bowl that is hard to break, i.e. a secure job position that will provide you with a steady income for the rest of your life.
Civil servants, military personnel or people employed in companies with strong ties to the government are usually sorted in this category.
Having such a job can be expressed as ???? (duan tiefànwan) "carry an iron rice bowl" (? here is used as a verb meaning "to carry something level with both hands", such as a plate or a rice bowl).
Since these positions are more or less permanent (I say more or less because there is an ongoing effort to change the system), ??? (tiefànwan) "iron rice bowl" is associated with low work morale and low productivity. If your income is independent of the effort you invest in your work, few people will feel motivated to do a good job.
Attempts at reforming these sectors are sometimes referred to as ????? (dapò tiefànwan) "breaking the iron rice bowl" and has been an important part of reform in China since ??? (Dèng Xiaopíng) got his labour reforms under way. Naturally, reactions have been very different depending on if you have such a position or not!
??? (jinfànwan) "golden rice bowl"
It follows that if it's good to have a rice bowl made of iron, it's even better to have one made of gold. In ancient times, the emperor was said to eat out of such a bowl, but today, ??? (jinfànwan) "golden rice bowl" is used to refer to very good positions with income so high that money is not an issue. It can be used as follows:
?????????????
jiazhangmen xiwàng háizi néng pengqi jinfànwan
Parents hopes their children will be able to pick up a golden rice bowl.
In this sentence, ? (peng) is used in a similar way to ? (duan) above, it's simply used to mean "having a position that's considered to be a golden rice bowl". These verbs are not limited to the specific rice bowl in question, so all the four variants below are possible:
Both ??? (tiefànwan) "iron rice bowl" and ??? (jinfànwan) "golden rice bowl" are commonly used in modern Chinese and should be in the vocabulary of any student who is intermediate or above! Naturally, you don't need to force vocabulary learning, make sure you immerse yourself in Chinese so that you encounter these words naturally.
??? (tiefànwan) "iron rice bowl"
As the name implies, ??? (tiefànwan) refers to a bowl that is hard to break, i.e. a secure job position that will provide you with a steady income for the rest of your life.
Civil servants, military personnel or people employed in companies with strong ties to the government are usually sorted in this category.
Having such a job can be expressed as ???? (duan tiefànwan) "carry an iron rice bowl" (? here is used as a verb meaning "to carry something level with both hands", such as a plate or a rice bowl).
Since these positions are more or less permanent (I say more or less because there is an ongoing effort to change the system), ??? (tiefànwan) "iron rice bowl" is associated with low work morale and low productivity. If your income is independent of the effort you invest in your work, few people will feel motivated to do a good job.
Attempts at reforming these sectors are sometimes referred to as ????? (dapò tiefànwan) "breaking the iron rice bowl" and has been an important part of reform in China since ??? (Dèng Xiaopíng) got his labour reforms under way. Naturally, reactions have been very different depending on if you have such a position or not!
??? (jinfànwan) "golden rice bowl"
It follows that if it's good to have a rice bowl made of iron, it's even better to have one made of gold. In ancient times, the emperor was said to eat out of such a bowl, but today, ??? (jinfànwan) "golden rice bowl" is used to refer to very good positions with income so high that money is not an issue. It can be used as follows:
?????????????
jiazhangmen xiwàng háizi néng pengqi jinfànwan
Parents hopes their children will be able to pick up a golden rice bowl.
In this sentence, ? (peng) is used in a similar way to ? (duan) above, it's simply used to mean "having a position that's considered to be a golden rice bowl". These verbs are not limited to the specific rice bowl in question, so all the four variants below are possible:
- ???? (duan tiefànwan)
- ???? (peng tiefànwan
- ???? (duan jinfànwan)
- ???? (peng jinfànwan)
Both ??? (tiefànwan) "iron rice bowl" and ??? (jinfànwan) "golden rice bowl" are commonly used in modern Chinese and should be in the vocabulary of any student who is intermediate or above! Naturally, you don't need to force vocabulary learning, make sure you immerse yourself in Chinese so that you encounter these words naturally.
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