📖 Meaning
To stubbornly insist on doing things one's own way, disregarding the advice or objections of others. It describes a person who acts willfully and arbitrarily, refusing to listen to reason or collective opinion.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom comes from the Records of the Grand Historian (史记·酷吏列传) by Sima Qian. Zhao Yu (赵禹), a strict official during the Western Han Dynasty, was known for his unyielding nature. When colleagues tried to curry favor or soften his rigid enforcement of the law, he paid them no heed. Sima Qian described him as acting alone according to his own will — 一意孤行 — meaning he neither sought allies nor compromised his standards. Originally the phrase carried a somewhat positive nuance of principled independence, though in modern usage it is almost always pejorative.
💡 Example Usage
大家都劝他不要贸然辞职，他却一意孤行，结果落得个两头落空的下场。
Everyone urged him not to quit his job recklessly, but he stubbornly insisted on going his own way and ended up losing out on both fronts.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 一意孤行
- Pinyin: yī yì gū xíng
- Literal Translation: one, mind, lone, go
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4