📖 Meaning
A perfectly thorough and foolproof plan or strategy that accounts for every contingency. It is synonymous with 万全之策 and describes a scheme so well-considered that it leaves no room for failure or unexpected risk.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from the Records of the Three Kingdoms (《三国志》), in the biography of the strategist Pang Tong (庞统) of the Shu Han state. The historian Pei Songzhi (裴松之), in his annotations, quotes the Jiang Biao Zhuan (《江表传》), which records a warning that a certain military maneuver was 'not a foolproof plan' (非万全之计也). The phrase was used to caution against risky strategies, emphasizing that even a brilliant strategist like Pang Tong, who was second only to Zhuge Liang in Liu Bei's esteem, should prefer thoroughly calculated plans over dangerous gambles.
💡 Example Usage
他献上一条万全之计，众人无不叹服。
He presented a perfectly foolproof plan, and everyone was filled with admiration.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 万全之计
- Pinyin: wàn quán zhī jì
- Literal Translation: ten thousand, complete, of, plan
- Category: Method
- Characters: 4