History
水魚之交
Like Fish and Water
Korean: 수어지교Japanese: 水魚の交わり（すいぎょのまじわり）Pinyin: shuǐ yú zhī jiāo
Meaning
A bond as inseparable as fish and water — a relationship where each is essential to the other.
Origin story
After winning Zhuge Liang through his three visits, Liu Bei spent days and nights with him discussing the realm, growing ever closer. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, sworn companions through life and death, couldn’t hide their resentment at the newcomer monopolizing their lord’s favor. Liu Bei soothed them: "Having Kongming is like a fish finding water — speak of it no more." A lord likening himself to the fish and his minister to the water silenced all complaint. From this came "the friendship of water and fish."
Source: Records of the Three Kingdoms — Zhuge Liang
People
Modern examples
- The founder and CTO are fish-and-water partners, ten years inseparable.
- Director and lead actor click so completely that people call them fish and water.