📖 Meaning
Others may learn or accomplish something in one try, but you do it a hundred times. The idiom is a metaphor for putting in a hundred times the effort to catch up with others. It praises extraordinary diligence and relentless perseverance in overcoming natural limitations.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the 'Doctrine of the Mean' (中庸), a chapter in the Book of Rites (礼记), a Confucian classic compiled during the Warring States to Han dynasty period. The original passage states: 'If another can do it in one try, you do it a hundred times; if another can do it in ten tries, you do it a thousand times.' It concludes that if one truly perseveres in this way, even the foolish will become wise and even the weak will become strong, emphasizing that relentless effort can overcome any innate shortcoming.
💡 Example Usage
他天资平平，却凭人一己百的努力考上了重点大学。
He was only average in talent, yet through a hundredfold effort he got into a top university.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 人一己百
- Pinyin: rén yī jǐ bǎi
- Literal Translation: others one, self hundred
- Category: Perseverance
- Characters: 4