Chinese Idiom

事半功倍🔊

Shì Bàn Gōng Bèi
📚 Idioms⏱ 3 min read🎧 Audio

This idiom means getting twice the result with half the effort.

The Story 🔊

Mèngzǐ duì Qí Xuānwáng shuō dāngjīn zhī shì xíng rénzhèng jiù néng shì bàn gōng bèi
孟子Mèngzǐ🔊duì🔊齐宣王Qí Xuānwáng🔊shuō🔊当今dāngjīn🔊之世zhī shì🔊行仁政xíng rénzhèng🔊就能jiù néng🔊事半功倍shì bàn gōng bèi🔊
Rúguǒ yòng yíbàn de lìqì jiù néng qǔdé jiābèi de xiàoguǒ
如果Rúguǒ🔊yòng🔊一半yíbàn🔊de🔊力气lìqì🔊就能jiù néng🔊取得qǔdé🔊加倍jiābèi🔊de🔊效果xiàoguǒ🔊
Guānjiàn shì fāngfǎ yào zhèngquè
关键Guānjiàn🔊shì🔊方法fāngfǎ🔊yào🔊正确zhèngquè🔊
Fāngfǎ duì le zuòshì jiù néng shì bàn gōng bèi
方法Fāngfǎ🔊对了duì le🔊做事zuòshì🔊jiù🔊néng🔊事半功倍shì bàn gōng bèi🔊
English Translation:
Mencius said to King Xuan of Qi: "In today's world, implementing benevolent governance can achieve twice the result with half the effort." If you use half the effort, you can achieve double the results. The key is having the correct method. When the method is right, you can achieve more with less effort.

Key Vocabulary

事半功倍
shì bàn gōng bèi
twice the result with half the effort
仁政
rénzhèng
benevolent governance
力气
lìqì
effort
加倍
jiābèi
double
效果
xiàoguǒ
effect
正确
zhèngquè
correct

The Moral

Work smart, not just hard! This idiom means using the right method to achieve better results with less effort.

Cultural Insight

事半功倍 comes from "Mencius" (孟子), where he advises King Xuan of Qi.