Chinese idiom · 成语
水火不容
Meaning
Water and fire cannot coexist; irreconcilable conflict.
Character by character
Origin and story
philosophical expressionWater and fire provide an old image of forces that cannot flourish together. In the Shen Wei chapter of Qianfu Lun, the Eastern Han writer Wang Fu compares wrongdoing and upright conduct to water and fire: they have different sources and cannot both prevail. His larger argument concerns habits. Small acts accumulate until good or bad tendencies shape a person's character and the fate of a state. The familiar four-character idiom is a later compact expression of incompatibility, rather than a direct quotation of that whole passage. It now describes people, principles, or interests in severe opposition.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
两位合伙人因账目问题闹得水火不容，最后决定分开经营。
The two partners became bitterly opposed over the accounts and finally decided to run separate businesses.
Stronger than a minor disagreement; suggests deep incompatibility.