铁杵磨针 tiě chǔ mó zhēn Grind an iron rod into a needle

Explanation

比喻只要有恒心,肯努力,即使是再难的事情也能取得成功。

It means that as long as you have perseverance and are willing to work hard, you can achieve success even if the task is difficult.

Origin Story

唐朝诗人李白小时候顽皮好动,不喜欢读书。一天,他看到一位老妇人在一块石头上磨一根大铁棒,感到很奇怪,就上前问道:"老婆婆,您在磨什么?"老妇人答道:"我在磨针。"李白吃惊地说:"铁棒怎么能磨成针呢?"老妇人笑着说:"只要功夫深,铁棒磨成针!"李白听了老妇人的话,深受感动,从此认真读书,最终成为了一代诗仙。

Táng cháo shī rén Lǐ Bái xiǎoshíhòu wánpí hàodòng, bù xǐhuan dúshū. Yītiān, tā kàn dào yī wèi lǎofùn rén zài yī kuài shítou shang mó yī gēn dà tiě bàng, gǎndào hěn qíguài, jiù shàng qián wèndào: "Lǎopópo, nín zài mó shénme?" Lǎofùrén dá dào: "Wǒ zài mó zhēn." Lǐ Bái chījīng de shuō: "Tiě bàng zěnme néng mó chéng zhēn ne?" Lǎofùrén xiàozhe shuō: "Zhǐyào gōngfū shēn, tiě bàng mó chéng zhēn!" Lǐ Bái tīng le lǎofùrén de huà, shēn shòu gǎndòng, cóng cǐ rènzhēn dúshū, zhōngyú chéng wéi le yīdài shīxiān.

Li Bai, a Tang Dynasty poet, was playful and did not like to study when he was a child. One day, he saw an old woman grinding a large iron rod on a stone, and he felt very strange. He went up and asked, "Old woman, what are you grinding?" The old woman replied, "I'm grinding a needle." Li Bai was surprised and said, "How can an iron rod be ground into a needle?" The old woman smiled and said, "As long as you work hard enough, anything is possible!" Li Bai was deeply moved by the old woman's words, and from then on he studied diligently and eventually became one of the greatest poets of his time.

Usage

用于比喻只要有恒心,肯努力,即使是再难的事情也能取得成功。

yòng yú bǐyù zhǐyào yǒu héngxīn, kěn nǔlì, jíshǐ shì zài nán de shìqíng yě néng qǔdé chénggōng

It is used to illustrate that as long as you have perseverance and are willing to work hard, you can achieve success even if the task is difficult.

Examples

  • 只要功夫深,铁杵磨成针。

    zhǐyào gōngfū shēn, tiě chǔ mó chéng zhēn.

    Where there is a will, there is a way.

  • 他学习刻苦认真,终于取得了成功,真是铁杵磨针的典范。

    tā xuéxí kèkǔ rènzhēn, zhōngyú qǔdé le chénggōng, zhēnshi tiě chǔ mó zhēn de diǎnfàn

    He studied diligently and finally succeeded. He is a model of perseverance and hard work like the idiom 'a needle can be made from an iron rod through grinding'