📖 Meaning
It describes someone who possesses both talent (inborn aptitude) and competence (learned ability or skill). The character 材 is a variant form of 才, so the idiom essentially means having both natural gifts and practical capability. It is used to praise a person who is versatile and fully qualified for a task.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom appears in the anonymous Yuan dynasty (元代) drama 《百花亭》 (Baihua Pavilion), in its third act (第三折). In that scene, the character Wang Huan (王焕) is praised as being 'proficient in both civil and martial arts' (文武双全) and 'endowed with both talent and competence' (材能兼备). The Yuan dynasty zaju (杂剧) tradition frequently used such formulaic praise lines to introduce a hero's credentials. The phrase has since become a standard compliment for someone who combines natural intelligence with acquired skill.
💡 Example Usage
他材能兼备，很快便得到了公司的重用。
Being endowed with both talent and ability, he quickly won the company's trust and promotion.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 材能兼备
- Pinyin: cái néng jiān bèi
- Literal Translation: talent, ability, both, possess
- Category: Quality
- Characters: 4