📖 Meaning
Hands cracked from cold and feet covered in calluses. It describes someone who exerts themselves to the utmost, enduring physical hardship to achieve a goal. The idiom conveys total dedication and relentless effort.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Qing dynasty scholar Yan Fu (严复), a prominent reformist and translator. In his letter '与主人论教育书' (A Letter Discussing Education with the Master), he wrote that one should pursue every means of dispelling ignorance with full effort, even to the point of cracked hands and callused feet. Yan Fu used the image of hands split by cold and feet thickened with calluses to emphasize the extreme diligence required in the pursuit of knowledge and reform.
💡 Example Usage
为完成这部巨著，他皲手茧足，数十年如一日地伏案写作。
To complete this monumental work, he labored to the point of cracked hands and calloused feet, writing at his desk day after day for decades.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 皲手茧足
- Pinyin: jūn shǒu jiǎn zú
- Literal Translation: cracked hand, callused foot
- Category: Perseverance
- Characters: 4