一暴十寒

Chinese

		one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)	sudden; violent; cruel sudden; violent; cruel; to show or expose; to injure	ten	cold; poor; to tremble
simp. and trad. (一暴十寒)		一	暴	十	寒
alternative forms		一曝十寒

Etymology

From Mencius (《孟子·告子上》):

雖有天下易生之物也，一日暴之、十日寒之，未有能生者也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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虽有天下易生之物也，一日暴之、十日寒之，未有能生者也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Suī yǒu tiānxià yì shēng zhī wù yě, yīrì pù zhī, shírì hán zhī, wèi yǒu néng shēng zhě yě. [Pinyin]

Suppose the case of the most easily growing thing in the world; if you let it have one day's genial heat, and then expose it for ten days to cold, it will not be able to grow.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yīpùshíhán

  (Zhuyin): ㄧ ㄆㄨˋ ㄕˊ ㄏㄢˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jat¹ buk⁶ sap⁶ hon⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yīpùshíhán [Phonetic: yípùshíhán]
    • Zhuyin: ㄧ ㄆㄨˋ ㄕˊ ㄏㄢˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yipùshíhhán
    • Wade–Giles: i¹-pʻu⁴-shih²-han²
    • Yale: yī-pù-shŕ-hán
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ipuhshyrharn
    • Palladius: ипушихань (ipušixanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /i⁵⁵⁻³⁵ pʰu⁵¹ ʂʐ̩³⁵ xän³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jat¹ buk⁶ sap⁶ hon⁴
    • Yale: yāt buhk sahp hòhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jat⁷ buk⁹ sap⁹ hon⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: yed¹ bug⁶ seb⁶ hon⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐt̚⁵ pʊk̚² sɐp̚² hɔːn²¹/

Idiom

一暴十寒

1. (figurative) to work hard for one day and do nothing for ten; to work by fits and starts; to act without perseverance or persistence

Synonyms

• 三天打魚，兩天曬網／三天打鱼，两天晒网 (sān tiān dǎ yú, liǎng tiān shài wǎng)