📖 Meaning
Describes something that is both hard to achieve and therefore highly praiseworthy. It is used to commend a person's exceptional qualities, rare abilities, or commendable deeds that most people would find very difficult to accomplish.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the writings of Su Shi (苏轼), the renowned Song Dynasty poet and statesman. In his collected works, Su Shi expressed the idea that what is difficult to accomplish is all the more worthy of praise and treasure. The phrase was later crystallized into the four-character idiom by later scholars who drew upon Su Shi's sentiment that rarity enhances value — a notion deeply rooted in Confucian thought that moral excellence achieved against difficulty is the highest virtue.
💡 Example Usage
在如此艰难的环境下，他依然坚持每天学习英语，这种精神真是难能可贵。
Continuing to study English every single day under such difficult circumstances is truly admirable and rare.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 难能可贵
- Pinyin: nán néng kě guì
- Literal Translation: difficult, capable, can, precious
- Category: Quality
- Characters: 4