canh điền bất kiến điểu, hòa thục điểu phi lai
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
No bird at the plowing, flocks at the ripening — helpers appear at harvest, never at labor.
Literally: plowing sees no birds; ripe rice, birds arrive
Examples
Lúc làm chẳng thấy ai, lúc ăn đông đủ — canh điền bất kiến điểu.Nobody at the plowing, everybody at the feast — birds come when the rice ripens.
Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)
Sources & notes
Discovered via Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.
Common questions
What does “canh điền bất kiến điểu, hòa thục điểu phi lai” mean?
No bird at the plowing, flocks at the ripening — helpers appear at harvest, never at labor. Literally: plowing sees no birds; ripe rice, birds arrive
Is “canh điền bất kiến điểu, hòa thục điểu phi lai” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.