Chinese Idiom

愚公移山🔊

Yú Gōng Yí Shān
📚 Idioms⏱ 3 min read🎧 Audio

This idiom means achieving the impossible through persistence.

The Story 🔊

Běishān Yúgōng jiā mén qián yǒu liǎng zuò dàshān dǎnglù
北山Běishān🔊愚公Yúgōng🔊家门前jiā mén qián🔊yǒu🔊两座liǎng zuò🔊大山dàshān🔊挡路dǎnglù🔊
Tā juédìng dàilǐng quánjiā bānzǒu zhè liǎng zuò shān
🔊决定juédìng🔊带领dàilǐng🔊全家quánjiā🔊搬走bānzǒu🔊这两座zhè liǎng zuò🔊shān🔊
Zhìsǒu xiào tā yúchǔn shuō zhè bù kěnéng wánchéng
智叟Zhìsǒu🔊笑他xiào tā🔊愚蠢yúchǔn🔊shuō🔊zhè🔊不可能bù kěnéng🔊完成wánchéng🔊
Yúgōng shuō wǒ sǐ le yǒu érzi érzi sǐ le yǒu sūnzi zǐ zǐ sūn sūn wúqióngjìn
愚公Yúgōng🔊shuō🔊🔊死了sǐ le🔊yǒu🔊儿子érzi🔊儿子érzi🔊死了sǐ le🔊yǒu🔊孙子sūnzi🔊子子孙孙zǐ zǐ sūn sūn🔊无穷尽wúqióngjìn🔊
Tiāndì bèi gǎndòng pài shénxiān bānzǒu le dàshān
天帝Tiāndì🔊bèi🔊感动gǎndòng🔊pài🔊神仙shénxiān🔊搬走了bānzǒu le🔊大山dàshān🔊
English Translation:
Yu Gong of Beishan had two great mountains blocking the way in front of his house. He decided to lead his whole family to move these two mountains. Zhi Sou laughed at him for being foolish, saying this was impossible. Yu Gong said: "When I die, I have sons; when sons die, there are grandsons. Generation after generation is endless." The Heavenly Emperor was moved and sent immortals to move the mountains away.

Key Vocabulary

愚公移山
yú gōng yí shān
the foolish old man moves mountains
搬走
bānzǒu
move away
愚蠢
yúchǔn
foolish
无穷尽
wúqióngjìn
endless
感动
gǎndòng
moved
神仙
shénxiān
immortal

The Moral

Persistence moves mountains! This idiom means that with enough determination, even the impossible can be achieved.

Cultural Insight

愚公移山 comes from "Liezi" (列子).