Chinese Idiom

百发百中🔊

Bǎi Fā Bǎi Zhòng
📚 Idioms⏱ 3 min read🎧 Audio

This idiom means hitting the target every time, describing great accuracy.

The Story 🔊

Chūnqiū shíqī Chǔguó yǒu gè shèjiàn gāoshǒu jiào Yǎng Yóujī
春秋Chūnqiū🔊时期shíqī🔊楚国Chǔguó🔊有个yǒu gè🔊射箭shèjiàn🔊高手gāoshǒu🔊jiào🔊养由基Yǎng Yóujī🔊
Tā shèjiàn jí zhǔn bǎifā bǎizhòng
🔊射箭shèjiàn🔊极准jí zhǔn🔊百发百中bǎifā bǎizhòng🔊
Yǒurén shuō nǐ kěyǐ jiāo biérén shèjiàn le
有人Yǒurén🔊shuō🔊🔊可以kěyǐ🔊jiāo🔊别人biérén🔊射箭shèjiàn🔊le🔊
Yǎng Yóujī shuō biérén zhǐ néng jiāo nǐ wāngōng bù néng jiāo nǐ shèzhòng
养由基Yǎng Yóujī🔊shuō🔊别人biérén🔊只能zhǐ néng🔊jiāo🔊🔊弯弓wāngōng🔊不能bù néng🔊jiāo🔊🔊射中shèzhòng🔊
English Translation:
During the Spring and Autumn period, there was an archery master in Chu named Yang Youji. His archery was extremely accurate, hitting the target every time. Someone said: "You can now teach others archery." Yang Youji said: "Others can only teach you to draw the bow, they cannot teach you to hit the target."

Key Vocabulary

百发百中
bǎi fā bǎi zhòng
hit the target every time
射箭
shèjiàn
archery
极准
jí zhǔn
extremely accurate
弯弓
wāngōng
draw the bow
射中
shèzhòng
hit the target
高手
gāoshǒu
master

The Moral

True skill comes from within! This idiom describes someone with perfect accuracy or great skill.

Cultural Insight

百发百中 comes from the story of Yang Youji in "Zuo Zhuan" (左传).