Chinese Idiom

熟能生巧🔊

Shú Néng Shēng Qiǎo
📚 Idioms⏱ 3 min read🎧 Audio

This idiom means that practice makes perfect.

The Story 🔊

Sòngcháo shí yǒu gè shèjiàn gāoshǒu jiào Chén Yáozī
宋朝Sòngcháo🔊shí🔊有个yǒu gè🔊射箭shèjiàn🔊高手gāoshǒu🔊jiào🔊陈尧咨Chén Yáozī🔊
Tā shèjiàn bǎifā bǎizhòng fēicháng jiāoào
🔊射箭shèjiàn🔊百发百中bǎifā bǎizhòng🔊非常fēicháng🔊骄傲jiāoào🔊
Yí gè màiyóu lǎorén kàn le zhǐshì wēiwēi diǎntóu
一个Yí gè🔊卖油màiyóu🔊老人lǎorén🔊看了kàn le🔊只是zhǐshì🔊微微wēiwēi🔊点头diǎntóu🔊
Lǎorén bǎ yóu cóng tóngqián kǒng zhōng dàorù húlu yì dī dōu méi zhāndào tóngqián
老人Lǎorén🔊🔊yóu🔊cóng🔊铜钱tóngqián🔊孔中kǒng zhōng🔊倒入dàorù🔊葫芦húlu🔊一滴yì dī🔊都没dōu méi🔊沾到zhāndào🔊铜钱tóngqián🔊
Tā shuō zhè méi shénme zhǐshì shú néng shēng qiǎo bà le
他说Tā shuō🔊zhè🔊没什么méi shénme🔊只是zhǐshì🔊熟能生巧shú néng shēng qiǎo🔊罢了bà le🔊
English Translation:
In the Song Dynasty, there was an archery master named Chen Yaozi. He could hit the target every time and was very proud. An old oil seller watched and only nodded slightly. The old man poured oil through the hole of a copper coin into a gourd without touching the coin at all. He said: "This is nothing special, it is just practice making perfect."

Key Vocabulary

熟能生巧
shú néng shēng qiǎo
practice makes perfect
射箭
shèjiàn
archery
百发百中
bǎifā bǎizhòng
hit the target every time
铜钱
tóngqián
copper coin
葫芦
húlu
gourd
骄傲
jiāoào
proud

The Moral

Practice leads to perfection! This idiom means that doing something repeatedly leads to skill and mastery.

Cultural Insight

熟能生巧 comes from the story of the oil seller in the writings of Ouyang Xiu.