独当一面
- Literal
- to hold one side single-handed
- Figurative
- To be able to run a whole front on your own — an area, a project, a branch — carrying the responsibility without anyone having to look over your shoulder.
Where does 独当一面 come from?
It comes from Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, in the chapter on Zhang Liang. In the middle of the war against Xiang Yu, the king of Han asked whom he could rely on if he gave up the eastern lands to win over allies. Zhang Liang named two men worth bringing over, Ying Bu and Peng Yue, and added that among the king's own generals only Han Xin could be trusted with weighty matters and could "hold a front." In the original Zhang Liang says only 当一面, "to hold one side"; the four-character form settled later. From the battle line it moved to the office: today it describes someone who can run a department or a project without supervision.
Source (出处): 《史记》
How is 独当一面 used? Two examples
- 他才来两年，现在已经能独当一面了。
He's only been here two years and he can already run a whole area on his own.
- 公司缺的是能独当一面的人，不是听指挥的。
What the company needs is people who can run things on their own, not people who just follow orders.
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