📖 Meaning
With a will so firm it can pierce through stone. It is a metaphor meaning that with unwavering determination, one can overcome any obstacle and achieve success. The phrase emphasizes that resolute willpower can accomplish even the seemingly impossible.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom traces back to the Song dynasty. Jiang Linji's work Miscellaneous Records (杂志) quotes a line from the poet Feng Teqing's poem 'Parting Is Hard' (离别难): 'The Buddha grants the wishes of all sentient beings; with a firm heart, even stone can be pierced.' The scholar Wang Mao later recorded the same popular saying in volume twenty-eight of his Collection of a Rustic Guest (野客丛书), noting that it was a common proverb of his time.
💡 Example Usage
只要心坚石穿，再大的困难也能克服。
With a will firm enough to pierce stone, no difficulty is too great to overcome.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 心坚石穿
- Pinyin: xīn jiān shí chuān
- Literal Translation: heart, firm, stone, pierce
- Category: Perseverance
- Characters: 4