📖 Meaning
To settle down with a family and establish a career or business. It refers to living and working steadily in one place over the long term, building a stable and rooted life.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom appears in the modern Chinese novel《红旗谱》(Red Flag Pedigree), Volume 1, by the novelist 梁斌 (Liang Bin, 1914–1996), a work depicting rural life and revolutionary struggles in North China. In the text, a character says, 'You father and son helped me settle down and establish my career; I will never forget it for the rest of my life.' The phrase draws on older Chinese concepts of family and livelihood but was fixed in its current form through this literary usage.
💡 Example Usage
他在外地打拼多年，终于在这座城市安家立业了。
After years of striving away from home, he finally settled down and established his career in this city.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 安家立业
- Pinyin: ān jiā lì yè
- Literal Translation: settle, home, establish, career
- Category: Lifestyle
- Characters: 4