天生我材必有用

Chinese

		day; sky; heaven	to be born; to give birth; life to be born; to give birth; life; to grow; student; raw	I; me	material	certainly; must; will certainly; must; will; necessarily	to have; there is; there are to have; there is; there are; to exist; to be	to use
simp. and trad. (天生我材必有用)		天	生	我	材	必	有	用
alternative forms		天生我才必有用

Etymology

From Li Bai's poem 《將進酒》:

天生我材必有用，千金散盡還復來。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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天生我材必有用，千金散尽还复来。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Translated by Yang Xianyi

Tiān shēng wǒ cái bì yǒu yòng, qiānjīn sàn jìn huán fùlái. [Pinyin]

Heaven has made us talents; we're not made in vain.
A thousand gold coins spent, more will turn up again.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): tiān shēng wǒ cái bì yǒu yòng

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄧㄢ ㄕㄥ ㄨㄛˇ ㄘㄞˊ ㄅㄧˋ ㄧㄡˇ ㄩㄥˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): tin¹ sang¹ ngo⁵ coi⁴ bit¹ jau⁵ jung⁶
• Min Nan (POJ): thian seng ngó͘ châi pit iú iōng

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: tiān shēng wǒ cái bì yǒu yòng
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄧㄢ ㄕㄥ ㄨㄛˇ ㄘㄞˊ ㄅㄧˋ ㄧㄡˇ ㄩㄥˋ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tian sheng wuuo tsair bih yeou yonq
    • Tongyong Pinyin: tian sheng wǒ cái bì yǒu yòng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰjɛn⁵⁵ ʂɤŋ⁵⁵ wɔ²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ t͡sʰaɪ̯³⁵ pi⁵¹ joʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ jʊŋ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: tin¹ sang¹ ngo⁵ coi⁴ bit¹ jau⁵ jung⁶
    • Yale: tīn sāng ngóh chòih bīt yáuh yuhng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tin¹ sang¹ ngo⁵ tsoi⁴ bit⁷ jau⁵ jung⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: tin¹ seng¹ ngo⁵ coi⁴ bid¹ yeo⁵ yung⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰiːn⁵⁵ sɐŋ⁵⁵ ŋɔː¹³ t͡sʰɔːy̯²¹ piːt̚⁵ jɐu̯¹³ jʊŋ²²/
• Min Nan
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thian seng ngó͘ châi pit iú iōng
    • Tâi-lô: thian sing ngóo tsâi pit iú iōng
    • Phofsit Daibuun: tiefn sefng ngor zaai pid iuo iong
    • IPA (Taipei): /tʰiɛn⁴⁴ ɕiɪŋ⁴⁴ ŋɔ̃⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡saɪ²⁴ pit̚³²⁻⁴ iu⁵³⁻⁴⁴ iɔŋ³³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /tʰiɛn⁴⁴ ɕiɪŋ⁴⁴ ŋɔ̃⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ t͡saɪ²³ pit̚³²⁻⁴ iu⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ iɔŋ³³/

Proverb

天生我材必有用

1. Everybody has something that they were born to be good at; if you search hard enough, you will find your niche in life; everyone is put on this Earth to achieve something.