📖 Meaning
To have both a beginning and an end; to see something through from start to finish. It describes a person who handles tasks with consistency and persistence rather than abandoning them halfway.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from 'Water Margin' (水浒全传) by Shi Nai'an of the Ming Dynasty. In Chapter 22, the idiom appears when a character praises another as a true great man who acts with both head and tail, both beginning and end. The expression draws on the metaphor of a complete body—possessing both a head and a tail—to convey the virtue of carrying tasks through to completion.
💡 Example Usage
他做事一向有头有尾，从不半途而废。
He always sees things through from start to finish and never gives up halfway.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 有头有尾
- Pinyin: yǒu tóu yǒu wěi
- Literal Translation: have, head, have, tail
- Category: Perseverance
- Characters: 4