📖 Meaning
To be able to accomplish great things and make significant contributions. It describes a person with immense potential who can fully exert their talents and achieve outstanding results in their chosen field.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the chapter 'Gongsun Chou II' (公孙丑下) in the classic Confucian text Mencius (孟子). Mencius stated that a ruler who intends to accomplish great deeds must have ministers whom he does not casually summon but instead visits personally to seek counsel. The Song dynasty scholar Zhu Xi (朱熹), in his collected commentaries, further glossed the phrase, equating 'a ruler of great accomplishment' with one who is 'a ruler of great achievement, an extraordinary ruler indeed.'
💡 Example Usage
年轻人在这个新兴行业里大有作为。
Young people can achieve great things in this emerging industry.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 大有作为
- Pinyin: dà yǒu zuò wéi
- Literal Translation: greatly, have, achievements, deeds
- Category: Success
- Characters: 4