不到長城非好漢

Chinese
 
to not yet reach; to not yet arrive at; to not arrive; to not show up
 
long wall; Great Wall of China; insurmountable barrier or invincible power; wall of steel
 
(be) not; wrong; blame; Africa
 brave man; true man; hero
trad. (不到長城非好漢) 不到 長城 非 好漢
simp. (不到长城非好汉) 不到 长城 非 好汉
Literally: “One who fails to reach the Great Wall is not a true man”.

Etymology

From Mao Zedong's 1935 verse:

天高雲淡，望斷南飛雁。不到長城非好漢，屈指行程二萬。 [Classical Chinese, trad.][▼ expand/hide]
天高云淡，望断南飞雁。不到长城非好汉，屈指行程二万。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: 1935, Mao Zedong, 《清平樂·六盤山》
Tiāngāoyúndàn, wàng duàn nán fēi yàn. Bùdào Chángchéng fēi hǎohàn, qūzhǐ xíngchéng èr wàn. [Pinyin]
The heavens are high, the clouds are pale,
We watch as the wild geese disappear southwards.
If we fail to reach the Great wall we are not true men,
We who have marched more than 20,000 li.

Pronunciation
  • Mandarin
    • (Standard Chinese)+
      • Pinyin: bùdào Chángchéng fēi hǎohàn [Phonetic: búdào Chángchéng fēi hǎohàn]
      • Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄠˋ ㄔㄤˊ ㄔㄥˊ ㄈㄟ ㄏㄠˇ ㄏㄢˋ
      • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: budaw Charngcherng fei haohann
      • IPA (key): /pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ tɑʊ̯⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʰɑŋ³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰɤŋ³⁵ feɪ̯⁵⁵ xɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ xän⁵¹/
  • Cantonese

Idiom

不到長城非好漢

  1. (figuratively) One should not give up until one succeeds.

Descendants
Sino-Xenic (不到長城非好漢):
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