📖 Meaning
Out of a hundred chances, one would not encounter it even once. It describes something extremely rare and hard to come by. The phrase emphasizes the exceptional scarcity of an event or opportunity.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Han dynasty work 'Han Ji' (汉纪) by Xun Yue (荀悦), specifically in the 'Annals of Emperor Ai.' The original passage discusses circumstances where a sound strategy is successfully established without any subsequent regret—such occurrences are so rare that they are not met even once in a hundred tries. Xun Yue further notes that even the wisest minds can comprehend only one in ten thousand of such insights, underscoring both the rarity of perfect strategic outcomes and the limits of human foresight.
💡 Example Usage
这样的好机会百不一遇，你一定要好好把握。
Such a rare opportunity comes once in a hundred; you must seize it firmly.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 百不一遇
- Pinyin: bǎi bù yī yù
- Literal Translation: hundred, not, one, encounter
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4