行百里者半九十

Chinese

		to go; to do; capable to go; to do; capable; all right; competent; OK; okay; to travel; temporary; to walk; will do; behavior; conduct; a row; profession; professional	a hundred li	‑ist, ‑er (person); person (who does sth)	half; semi-; incomplete half; semi-; incomplete; (after a number) and a half	ninety; 90
simp. and trad. (行百里者半九十)		行	百里	者	半	九十

Etymology

From Zhanguoce:

《詩》云：『行百里者半於九十』，此言末路之難也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

《诗》云：‘行百里者半于九十’，此言末路之难也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Zhanguo Ce, circa 5^th – 3^rd centuries BCE

“shī” yún: ‘Xíngbǎilǐzhěbànyújiǔshí’, cǐ yán mòlù zhī nán yě. [Pinyin]

Shijing said, "In a hundred-li journey, the first ninety li is merely half of it." This describes the difficulty towards the end of the journey.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): xíng bǎilǐ zhě bàn jiǔshí
(Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄥˊ ㄅㄞˇ ㄌㄧˇ ㄓㄜˇ ㄅㄢˋ ㄐㄧㄡˇ ㄕˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): hang⁴ baak³ lei⁵ ze² bun³ gau² sap⁶

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: xíng bǎilǐ zhě bàn jiǔshí [Phonetic: xíngbáilízhěbànjiǔshí]
  - Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄥˊ ㄅㄞˇ ㄌㄧˇ ㄓㄜˇ ㄅㄢˋ ㄐㄧㄡˇ ㄕˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: síng bǎilǐ jhě bàn jiǒushíh
  - Wade–Giles: hsing² pai³-li³ chê³ pan⁴ chiu³-shih²
  - Yale: syíng bǎi-lǐ jě bàn jyǒu-shŕ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyng baelii jee bann jeoushyr
  - Palladius: син байли чжэ бань цзюши (sin bajli čžɛ banʹ czjuši)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕiŋ³⁵ paɪ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ li²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʈ͡ʂɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ pän⁵¹ t͡ɕjoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ ʂʐ̩³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: hang⁴ baak³ lei⁵ ze² bun³ gau² sap⁶
  - Yale: hàhng baak léih jé bun gáu sahp
  - Cantonese Pinyin: hang⁴ baak⁸ lei⁵ dze² bun³ gau² sap⁹
  - Guangdong Romanization: heng⁴ bag³ léi⁵ zé² bun³ geo² seb⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɐŋ²¹ paːk̚³ lei̯¹³ t͡sɛː³⁵ puːn³³ kɐu̯³⁵ sɐp̚²/

Proverb

行百里者半九十

Things become more difficult when we approach closer to success

Synonyms

行百里者半於九十／行百里者半于九十 (xíng bǎilǐ zhě bàn yú jiǔshí)