三顾茅庐
- Literal
- to visit the thatched cottage three times
- Figurative
- To repeatedly and humbly seek out a worthy person, calling on them again and again to win their help.
Where does 三顾茅庐 come from?
At the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, Liu Bei was searching for a capable strategist and learned of the sage Zhuge Liang, who lived in seclusion in a humble thatched cottage. Liu Bei went to call on him in person three times before finding him at home; moved by such sincerity, Zhuge Liang finally agreed to serve him and became his chief adviser. The phrase comes from Zhuge Liang's own “Memorial on Sending Out the Troops” (出师表).
Source (出处): 《出师表》
How is 三顾茅庐 used? Two examples
- 为了请到这位专家，公司三顾茅庐，诚意十足。
To recruit this expert, the company courted him with repeated, earnest visits, full of sincerity.
- 老板三顾茅庐，才把那位设计师请回了团队。
The boss had to call on him again and again before he finally got that designer back on the team.
In Wanyu, all 400 chengyu have audio on every sentence, and you can save them to your decks and review them with spaced repetition. Free.
