行百里者半於九十
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 | in; at; to in; at; to; from; by; than; out of; surname | ninety; 90 | ||
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trad. (行百里者半於九十) | 行 | 百里 | 者 | 半 | 於 | 九十 | |
simp. (行百里者半于九十) | 行 | 百里 | 者 | 半 | 于 | 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.]
- From: Zhanguo Ce, circa 5th – 3rd 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.
《诗》云:‘行百里者半于九十’,此言末路之难也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
Pronunciation
Proverb
行百里者半於九十
- Alternative form of 行百里者半九十 (xíng bǎilǐ zhě bàn jiǔshí, “Things become more difficult when we approach closer to success”).