The Bird Jingwei Trying To Fill The Sea

Once upon a time, the youngest daughter of Emperor Yan, legendary ruler of primitive China, went boating on the Eastern Sea. While she was enjoying herself, a strong wind rose on the sea and her boat capsized. Just before she was buried by the surging waves, her spirit turned into a beautiful bird. As it flew over the roaring sea, it cried sadly in the sound "jinwei, jingwei". That was why people called it "Jingwei".

The bird lived on a mountain near the sea. It hated the sea so much that it decided to fill it up. Every day, it flew to and fro between the mountain and the sea, carrying in a twig or a pebble from the mountain and dropping it into the sea.

One day, the roaring sea said to Jingwei, "Poor little bird, stop doing that meaningless thing! You'll never fill me up." Jingwei replied, "I'll fill you up no doubt! I will, even if it'll take me thousands of years! I'll fight on until doomsday!"

The brave little bird kept carrying twigs and pebbles from the mountain to the Eastern Sea without taking a rest.

From this fable comes the idiom "The bird Jingwei trying to fill the sea". We use it to describe people who are firm and indomitable and will not stop until they reach their goal.

精衛填海

從前，炎帝（傳說中中國原始社會的統治者）的小女兒在東海上划船。正當她劃得高興時，海面上突然升起一陣大風，把她的小船弄翻了。就在她要被洶湧的波浪吞沒時，她的靈魂變成了一隻美麗的小鳥。它飛過那咆哮的海面，傷心的叫著「精衛，精衛」的聲音。所以人們就叫她「精衛」。

精衛鳥住在靠海的一座山上。它非常恨大海，所以決心要把它填平。它每天來回於山海之間，把從山上銜來的小樹枝和小石子扔在大海裡。

一天，咆哮的大海對精衛說：「可憐的小鳥，停止你那無謂的舉動吧！你是永遠都填不平我的。」 精衛回答說：「我當然會把你填平的！即使這需要千千萬萬年的時間，我也一定會鬥爭到底，直到你的末日來臨！」
這只勇敢的小鳥繼續從山上銜來小樹枝和小石子，扔到東海中，從未有片刻休息。

「精衛填海」這個成語就是由這個傳說而來的，形容那些堅定不移，不屈不撓，不到目的決不罷休的人。