📖 Meaning
This idiom describes an extremely small or minute quantity. Fen and hao are both tiny units of measurement in the traditional Chinese system, so the phrase emphasizes even the slightest amount. It is often used to stress that not a single tiny bit should be taken, wasted, or overlooked.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase comes from the essay 'To My Deceased Wife' (《给亡妇》) by Zhu Ziqing (1898–1948), a celebrated modern Chinese essayist and poet of the May Fourth period. In the essay, Zhu reflects on the selflessness of his late wife, writing that 'there was not one fen or one hao of thought for yourself.' The expression uses two of the smallest units in the Chinese monetary and measuring system to vividly convey how she never gave even the slightest consideration to her own interests. Over time, the phrase became a common idiom for any tiny, negligible amount.
💡 Example Usage
财务账目必须精确到一分一毫，不能有半点差错。
The financial records must be accurate down to the last fen and hao, with not the slightest error.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 一分一毫
- Pinyin: yī fēn yī háo
- Literal Translation: one fen, one hao
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4