只要功夫深，鐵杵磨成針

Chinese
as long as; provided; so long as time; efforts deep; profound
 
grindstone; to sharpen; to delay; hardship; to grind; to rub
 
finish; complete; accomplish; become; turn into; win; succeed; one tenth
 needle; pin; injection
trad. (只要功夫深，鐵杵磨成針) 只要 功夫 深 ， 鐵杵 磨 成 針
simp. (只要功夫深，铁杵磨成针) 只要 功夫 深 ， 铁杵 磨 成 针
variant forms
 
只要工夫深，鐵杵磨成針／只要工夫深，铁杵磨成针
只要有恆心，鐵杵磨成針／只要有恒心，铁杵磨成针
只要功夫深鐵杵磨成針／只要功夫深铁杵磨成针
只要工夫深鐵杵磨成針／只要工夫深铁杵磨成针
只要有恆心鐵杵磨成針／只要有恒心铁杵磨成针
鐵杵磨成針／铁杵磨成针
鐵杵磨針／铁杵磨针
鐵杵成針／铁杵成针
Literally: “If you work at it hard enough, you can grind an iron bar into a needle.”

Etymology

From a story about poet Li Bai, recorded in Fangyu Shenglan (《方輿勝覽》).

Pronunciation
  • Mandarin
    (Pinyin): zhǐyào gōngfu shēn, tiěchǔ mó chéng zhēn
    (Zhuyin): ㄓˇ ㄧㄠˋ ㄍㄨㄥ ˙ㄈㄨ ㄕㄣ, ㄊㄧㄝˇ ㄔㄨˇ ㄇㄛˊ ㄔㄥˊ ㄓㄣ
  • Cantonese (Jyutping): zi2 jiu3 gung1 fu1 sam1, tit3 cyu5 mo4 sing4 zam1
  • Mandarin
    • (Standard Chinese)+
      • Pinyin: zhǐyào gōngfu shēn, tiěchǔ mó chéng zhēn [Phonetic: zhǐyàogōngfushēn,tiéchǔmóchéngzhēn]
      • Zhuyin: ㄓˇ ㄧㄠˋ ㄍㄨㄥ ˙ㄈㄨ ㄕㄣ, ㄊㄧㄝˇ ㄔㄨˇ ㄇㄛˊ ㄔㄥˊ ㄓㄣ
      • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jyyyaw gong.fu shen, tiiechuu mo cherng jen
      • IPA (key): /ʈ͡ʂʐ̩²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ i̯ɑʊ̯⁵¹ kʊŋ⁵⁵ fu² ʂən⁵⁵ tʰi̯ɛ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰu²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ mu̯ɔ³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰɤŋ³⁵ ʈ͡ʂən⁵⁵/
  • Cantonese
    • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)+
      • Jyutping: zi2 jiu3 gung1 fu1 sam1, tit3 cyu5 mo4 sing4 zam1
      • Yale: jí yiu gūng fū sām, tit chyúh mòh sìhng jām
      • Cantonese Pinyin: dzi2 jiu3 gung1 fu1 sam1, tit8 tsy5 mo4 sing4 dzam1
      • Guangdong Romanization: ji2 yiu3 gung1 fu1 sem1, tid3 qu5 mo4 xing4 zem1
      • IPA (key): /t͡siː³⁵ jiːu̯³³ kʊŋ⁵⁵ fuː⁵⁵ sɐm⁵⁵ tʰiːt̚³ t͡ʃʰyː¹³ mɔː²¹ sɪŋ²¹ t͡sɐm⁵⁵/

Proverb

只要功夫深，鐵杵磨成針

  1. Diligence is the mother of success. / Practice makes perfect.

Descendants
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