愚公移山
- Literal
- The Foolish Old Man moves the mountain.
- Figurative
- To persevere relentlessly against a huge task until it yields; unwavering determination that overcomes any difficulty.
Where does 愚公移山 come from?
An old man nicknamed the Foolish Old Man lived with two huge mountains blocking the path in front of his home, so he gathered his family and began digging them away. A neighbor called the Wise Old Man mocked him for attempting the impossible. The old man replied that even if he died, his sons would remain, then their sons, generation after generation without end, while the mountain grows no taller, so it could not hold out forever. Moved by his persistence, Heaven sent spirits who carried the two mountains away.
Source (出处): 《列子·汤问》
How is 愚公移山 used? Two examples
- 他用愚公移山的精神，一个人花了十年修好了这条山路。
With the spirit of the Foolish Old Man moving the mountain, he spent ten years alone repairing this mountain road.
- 想攻克这个难题，没有愚公移山的毅力是不行的。
To crack this hard problem, you simply cannot do it without the persistence of the Foolish Old Man moving the mountain.
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.
