măng không uốn để ra tre uốn làm sao đặng
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Bend the shoot or never bend the bamboo — correction has a season, and it is early.
Literally: unshaped shoot becomes bamboo — then how to bend
Examples
Dạy con từ nhỏ, măng không uốn để ra tre uốn làm sao đặng.Teach them young — nobody bends grown bamboo.
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 “măng không uốn để ra tre uốn làm sao đặng” mean?
Bend the shoot or never bend the bamboo — correction has a season, and it is early. Literally: unshaped shoot becomes bamboo — then how to bend
Is “măng không uốn để ra tre uốn làm sao đặng” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.