Practical guide
一之谓甚 (yī zhī wèi shèn): Meaning, Variant Reading and Examples
一之谓甚 says one occurrence is already excessive and a second should not happen. 一之为甚 is a recorded variant, with wéi rather than wèi. Learn the short Zuo Zhuan quotation, original Chinese examples and the pronunciation contrast.
Once is already excessive; a repeat is rejected
The simplified spelling is 一之谓甚; traditional is 一之謂甚. The consulted reading is yī zhī wèi shèn. The recorded meaning judges one occurrence already excessive and rejects a second occurrence. [1]
“Once was already too much; not again” explains the objection. The expression is a strong judgment about the repeat, not a neutral count of events or a rule saying every activity must occur only once.
The recorded variant changes the wéi/wèi reading
| Form | Recorded reading | Central meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 一之謂甚 / 一之谓甚 | yī zhī wèi shèn | Once already excessive; no second occurrence. |
| 一之為甚 / 一之为甚 | yī zhī wéi shèn | The corresponding excessive-once judgment. |
The variant entry records 一之為甚 with wéi for 為. [2] The primary form uses wèi for 謂. [1] Keep both the written character and its consulted reading in the vocabulary note; the two characters should not silently be assigned the same tone.
The variant belongs with this central answer. A spelling and pronunciation difference does not create a separate kind of unacceptable repeat.
Read the short Zuo Zhuan question as the cited wording
The primary entry cites Zuo Zhuan, Duke Xi’s fifth year: 一之謂甚，其可再乎. [1] The question challenges a second occurrence after the first is already judged excessive.
The variant entry also cites Hou Kezhong’s poem Gui Xing with 一之為甚. [2] These are the consulted short records; the guide does not reconstruct the full historical situation or claim a fixed-expression first date from a chapter label.
Two original sentences make the objection explicit
These situations are fictional teaching examples.
剧本中，她说：“未经核对就盖章，一之谓甚，不能再来第二次。”
“In the script, she says, ‘Stamping without checking was already too much once; it must not happen a second time.’” The disapproved act and the rejected repeat are stated.
叙述者对再次改写原话表示反对，引用一之为甚来强调不应重犯。
“The narrator objects to another alteration of the original words and uses the variant to emphasise that it should not be repeated.” This is an original description of a fictional objection, not a quotation from the historical sources.
A rejected repeat differs from a reversal caused by excess
物极必反 foregrounds excess producing a reversal or opposite effect in the situation being described. 一之谓甚 foregrounds a judgment that the first occurrence is already unacceptable and a second should not happen.
The objection does not itself prove that a future reversal will occur. Nor does it replace a task-specific explanation of what should be checked or corrected. In a learner sentence, identify the act being rejected, rather than applying the expression to any ordinary repeated practice.
Choose the variant reading and the object of disapproval
Original exercise: The written form is 一之為甚. In the fictional scene, the speaker rejects another unchecked stamp. Which response matches the consulted reading and the stated objection?
- “yī zhī wéi shèn; the unchecked stamping is already excessive once and should not recur.”
- “yī zhī wèi shèn; every repeated action in every setting is forbidden.”
Check 為, its tone and the rejected act
Response 1. 為 is wéi in the consulted variant; 謂 is wèi in the primary form. Response 2 both transfers the wrong consulted tone to the variant and expands a specified objection into a universal rule.
Sources and further reading
- Education Ministry Chengyu Dictionary revised-dictionary appendix: 一之谓甚Recorded spelling, pronunciation and lexical sense; any cited classical wording is identified in the article. Modern teaching sentences, comparisons and exercises are original.
- Education Ministry Chengyu Dictionary revised-dictionary appendix: 一之為甚Recorded spelling, pronunciation and lexical sense; any cited classical wording is identified in the article. Modern teaching sentences, comparisons and exercises are original.