不到長城非好漢

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Chinese

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to not yet reach; to not yet arrive at; to not arrive
to not yet reach; to not yet arrive at; to not arrive; to not show up
 
long wall; Great Wall of China; Changcheng
(be) not; wrong; blame
(be) not; wrong; blame; Africa
 
trad. (不到長城非好漢) 不到 長城 好漢
simp. (不到长城非好汉) 不到 长城 好汉
Literally: “One who fails to reach the Great Wall is not a true man”.

Etymology

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From Mao Zedong's 1935 verse:

天高雲淡不到長城非好漢屈指行程 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
天高云淡不到长城非好汉屈指行程 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: 1935, Mao Zedong, 《清平樂·六盤山》
Tiāngāoyúndàn, wàng duàn nán fēi yàn. Bùdào Chángchéng fēi hǎohàn, qūzhǐ xíngchéng èr wàn. [Pinyin]
The heavens are high, the clouds are pale,
We watch as the wild geese disappear southwards.
If we fail to reach the Great wall we are not true men,
We who have marched more than 20,000 li.

Pronunciation

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Idiom

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不到長城非好漢

  1. (figurative) One should not give up until one succeeds.

Descendants

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Sino-Xenic (不到長城非好漢):