📖 Meaning
It means a great project or major task has been declared complete. The idiom emphasizes the successful culmination of a large, long-term undertaking, and it is synonymous with 大功告成 (the great work is done). It is typically used to report the triumphant finish of major engineering, construction, or other grand endeavors.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom comes from the Book of Han (汉书), in the biography of Wang Mang (王莽传), written by the historian Ban Gu during the Eastern Han dynasty. The passage records that during the late Western Han, when Wang Mang was serving as regent, he launched massive construction projects and summoned the people to labor on them. It states: 'The students and commoners gathered in great harmony; a hundred thousand people assembled together, working evenly for twenty days, and the great work was accomplished' (诸生、庶民大和会，十万众并集，平作二旬，大功毕成). The phrase originally described the completion of Wang Mang's grand construction works, and later became a fixed expression for the successful completion of any major project or task.
💡 Example Usage
历时三年的跨海大桥终于大功毕成，全线通车。
After three years of construction, the cross-sea bridge was finally completed and opened to traffic along its entire length.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 大功毕成
- Pinyin: dà gōng bì chéng
- Literal Translation: great, achievement, completely, accomplished
- Category: Success
- Characters: 4