📖 Meaning
Literally meaning exhausting the years and accumulating the months, this idiom describes something that continues without interruption over a very long period. It emphasizes the sheer duration and unrelenting nature of an ongoing effort or passage of time.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the work Xunzi, specifically the chapter Rong Ru (Honor and Disgrace), written by the philosopher Xunzi (Xun Kuang) during the late Warring States period. In the original text, Xunzi discusses human nature, observing that people endlessly pursue desires year after year and generation after generation, never feeling they have enough. The expression was later adopted to convey prolonged, continuous effort or duration, appearing frequently in classical and modern Chinese literature.
💡 Example Usage
这部巨著是老学者穷年累月查阅无数古籍才完成的。
This monumental work was completed by the elderly scholar only after years of tireless consultation of countless ancient texts.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 穷年累月
- Pinyin: qióng nián lěi yuè
- Literal Translation: exhausting years, accumulating months
- Category: Perseverance
- Characters: 4