半途而廢

See also: 半途而废

Chinese

		halfway; midway	and; as well as; but (not) and; as well as; but (not); yet (not); (shows causal relation); (shows change of state); (shows contrast)	abolish; crippled
trad. (半途而廢)		半途	而	廢
simp. (半途而废)		半途	而	废

Etymology

From the Doctrine of the Mean (《中庸》) in the Book of Rites:

子曰：「素隱行怪，後世有述焉，吾弗為之矣。君子遵道而行，半涂而廢，吾弗能已矣。…… [Classical Chinese, trad.]

子曰：「素隐行怪，后世有述焉，吾弗为之矣。君子遵道而行，半涂而废，吾弗能已矣。…… [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Book of Rites, c. 4^th – 2^nd century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Zǐyuē: “Sù yǐn xíng guài, hòushì yǒu shù yān, wú fú wéi zhī yǐ. Jūnzǐ zūn dào ér xíng, bàntú ér fèi, wú fúnéng yǐ yǐ....... [Pinyin]

The Master said, "To live in obscurity, and yet practice wonders, in order to be mentioned with honor in future ages: this is what I do not do. The good man tries to proceed according to the right path, but when he has gone halfway, he abandons it: I am not able so to stop. […]

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): bàntú'érfèi

(Zhuyin): ㄅㄢˋ ㄊㄨˊ ㄦˊ ㄈㄟˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): bun³ tou⁴ ji⁴ fai³
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): poàn-tô͘-lî-hòe

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: bàntú'érfèi
  - Zhuyin: ㄅㄢˋ ㄊㄨˊ ㄦˊ ㄈㄟˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: bàntú-érfèi
  - Wade–Giles: pan⁴-tʻu²-êrh²-fei⁴
  - Yale: bàn-tú-ér-fèi
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: banntwuerlfey
  - Palladius: баньтуэрфэй (banʹtuerfɛj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pän⁵¹ tʰu³⁵ ˀɤɻ³⁵ feɪ̯⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: bun³ tou⁴ ji⁴ fai³
  - Yale: bun tòuh yìh fai
  - Cantonese Pinyin: bun³ tou⁴ ji⁴ fai³
  - Guangdong Romanization: bun³ tou⁴ yi⁴ fei³
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /puːn³³ tʰou̯²¹ jiː²¹ fɐi̯³³/
Southern Min
- (Hokkien: Xiamen)
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī: poàn-tô͘-lî-hòe
  - Tâi-lô: puàn-tôo-lî-huè
  - Phofsit Daibuun: poarndoli'hoex
  - IPA (Xiamen): /puan²¹⁻⁵³ tɔ²⁴⁻²² li²⁴⁻²² hue²¹/

Idiom

半途而廢

to give up halfway through a task; to not finish what one has started