天生我材必有用

Chinese

	day; sky; heaven	to be born; to give birth; life to be born; to give birth; life; to grow; student; raw	I; me	material	certainly; must; will certainly; must; will; necessarily	to have; there is; there are to have; there is; there are; to exist; to be	to use
trad. (天生我材必有用)	天	生	我	材	必	有	用
simp. ^#(天生我材必有用)	天	生	我	材	必	有	用
alternative forms	天生我才必有用

Etymology

From Li Bai's poem 《將進酒》:

天生我材必有用，千金散盡還復來。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

天生我材必有用，千金散尽还复来。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Translated by Yang Xianyi

Tiān shēng wǒ cái bì yǒu yòng, qiānjīn sàn jìn huán fùlái. [Pinyin]

Heaven has made us talents; we're not made in vain.
A thousand gold coins spent, more will turn up again.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): tiān shēng wǒ cái bì yǒu yòng
(Zhuyin): ㄊㄧㄢㄕㄥㄨㄛˇ ㄘㄞˊ ㄅㄧˋ ㄧㄡˇ ㄩㄥˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): tin¹ sang¹ ngo⁵ coi⁴ bit¹ jau⁵ jung⁶
Min Nan (POJ): thian seng ngó͘ châi pit iú iōng

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: tiān shēng wǒ cái bì yǒu yòng
  - Zhuyin: ㄊㄧㄢㄕㄥㄨㄛˇ ㄘㄞˊ ㄅㄧˋ ㄧㄡˇ ㄩㄥˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: tian sheng wǒ cái bì yǒu yòng
  - Wade–Giles: tʻien¹ shêng¹ wo³ tsʻai² pi⁴ yu³ yung⁴
  - Yale: tyān shēng wǒ tsái bì yǒu yùng
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tian sheng woo tsair bih yeou yonq
  - Palladius: тянь шэн во цай би ю юн (tjanʹ šɛn vo caj bi ju jun)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰjɛn⁵⁵ ʂɤŋ⁵⁵ wɔ²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ t͡sʰaɪ̯³⁵ pi⁵¹ joʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ jʊŋ⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: tin¹ sang¹ ngo⁵ coi⁴ bit¹ jau⁵ jung⁶
  - Yale: tīn sāng ngóh chòih bīt yáuh yuhng
  - Cantonese Pinyin: tin¹ sang¹ ngo⁵ tsoi⁴ bit⁷ jau⁵ jung⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: tin¹ seng¹ ngo⁵ coi⁴ bid¹ yeo⁵ yung⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰiːn⁵⁵ sɐŋ⁵⁵ ŋɔː¹³ t͡sʰɔːi̯²¹ piːt̚⁵ jɐu̯¹³ jʊŋ²²/
Min Nan
- (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thian seng ngó͘ châi pit iú iōng
  - Tâi-lô: thian sing ngóo tsâi pit iú iōng
  - Phofsit Daibuun: tiefn sefng ngor zaai pid iuo iong
  - IPA (Kaohsiung): /tʰiɛn⁴⁴ ɕiɪŋ⁴⁴ ŋɔ̃⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ t͡sai²³ pit̚³²⁻⁴ iu⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ iɔŋ³³/
  - IPA (Taipei): /tʰiɛn⁴⁴ ɕiɪŋ⁴⁴ ŋɔ̃⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡sai²⁴ pit̚³²⁻⁴ iu⁵³⁻⁴⁴ iɔŋ³³/

Proverb

天生我材必有用

Everybody has something that they were born to be good at; if you search hard enough, you will find your niche in life; everyone is put on this Earth to achieve something.