不到長城非好漢

Chinese

	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	brave man; true man; hero brave man; true man; hero; outlaw
trad. (不到長城非好漢)	不到	長城	非	好漢
simp. (不到长城非好汉)	不到	长城	非	好汉
Literally: “One who fails to reach the Great Wall is not a true man”.

Etymology

From Mao Zedong's 1935 verse:

天高雲淡，望斷南飛雁。不到長城非好漢，屈指行程二萬。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

天高云淡，望断南飞雁。不到长城非好汉，屈指行程二万。 [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

Mandarin
(Pinyin): bùdào Chángchéng fēi hǎohàn

(Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄠˋ ㄔㄤˊ ㄔㄥˊ ㄈㄟㄏㄠˇ ㄏㄢˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): bat¹ dou³ coeng⁴ sing⁴ fei¹ hou² hon³

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: bùdào Chángchéng fēi hǎohàn [Phonetic: búdào Chángchéng fēi hǎohàn]
  - Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄠˋ ㄔㄤˊ ㄔㄥˊ ㄈㄟㄏㄠˇ ㄏㄢˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: bùdào Chángchéng fei hǎohàn
  - Wade–Giles: pu⁴-tao⁴ Chʻang²-chʻêng² fei¹ hao³-han⁴
  - Yale: bù-dàu Cháng-chéng fēi hǎu-hàn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: budaw Charngcherng fei haohann
  - Palladius: будао Чанчэн фэй хаохань (budao Čančɛn fɛj xaoxanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ tɑʊ̯⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʰɑŋ³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰɤŋ³⁵ feɪ̯⁵⁵ xɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ xän⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: bat¹ dou³ coeng⁴ sing⁴ fei¹ hou² hon³
  - Yale: bāt dou chèuhng sìhng fēi hóu hon
  - Cantonese Pinyin: bat⁷ dou³ tsoeng⁴ sing⁴ fei¹ hou² hon³
  - Guangdong Romanization: bed¹ dou³ cêng⁴ xing⁴ féi¹ hou² hon³
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɐt̚⁵ tou̯³³ t͡sʰœːŋ²¹ sɪŋ²¹ fei̯⁵⁵ hou̯³⁵ hɔːn³³/

Idiom

不到長城非好漢

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

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (不到長城非好漢):

→ Vietnamese: bất đáo Trường Thành phi hảo hán (不到長城非好漢)

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