只要功夫深，鐵杵磨成針

Chinese

		as long as; provided; so long as	time; efforts	deep; profound			grindstone; to sharpen; to delay grindstone; to sharpen; to delay; hardship; to grind; to rub	finish; complete; accomplish finish; complete; accomplish; become; turn into; win; succeed; one tenth	needle; pin; injection
trad. (只要功夫深，鐵杵磨成針)		只要	功夫	深	，	鐵杵	磨	成	針
simp. (只要功夫深，铁杵磨成针)		只要	功夫	深	，	铁杵	磨	成	针
alternative forms		只要工夫深，鐵杵磨成針／只要工夫深，铁杵磨成针 只要有恆心，鐵杵磨成針／只要有恒心，铁杵磨成针 只要功夫深鐵杵磨成針／只要功夫深铁杵磨成针 只要工夫深鐵杵磨成針／只要工夫深铁杵磨成针 只要有恆心鐵杵磨成針／只要有恒心铁杵磨成针 只要工夫深，鐵杵磨成針／只要工夫深，铁杵磨成针 只要有恆心，鐵杵磨成針／只要有恒心，铁杵磨成针 只要功夫深鐵杵磨成針／只要功夫深铁杵磨成针 只要工夫深鐵杵磨成針／只要工夫深铁杵磨成针 只要有恆心鐵杵磨成針／只要有恒心铁杵磨成针 鐵杵磨成針／铁杵磨成针 鐵杵磨針／铁杵磨针 鐵杵成針／铁杵成针
Literally: “If you work at it hard enough, you can grind an iron bar into a needle.”

Etymology

From a story about poet Li Bai, recorded in Fangyu Shenglan (《方輿勝覽》).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): zhǐyào gōngfu shēn, tiěchǔ mó chéng zhēn

  (Zhuyin): ㄓˇ ㄧㄠˋ ㄍㄨㄥ ˙ㄈㄨ ㄕㄣ , ㄊㄧㄝˇ ㄔㄨˇ ㄇㄛˊ ㄔㄥˊ ㄓㄣ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zi² jiu³ gung¹ fu¹ sam¹, tit³ cyu⁵ mo⁴ sing⁴ zam¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zhǐyào gōngfu shēn, tiěchǔ mó chéng zhēn [Phonetic: zhǐyàogōngfushēn,tiéchǔmóchéngzhēn]
    • Zhuyin: ㄓˇ ㄧㄠˋ ㄍㄨㄥ ˙ㄈㄨ ㄕㄣ , ㄊㄧㄝˇ ㄔㄨˇ ㄇㄛˊ ㄔㄥˊ ㄓㄣ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jhǐhyào gongfů shen, tiěchǔ mó chéng jhen
    • Wade–Giles: chih³-yao⁴ kung¹-fu⁵ shên¹, tʻieh³-chʻu³ mo² chʻêng² chên¹
    • Yale: jř-yàu gūng-fu shēn-, tyě-chǔ mwó chéng jēn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jyyyaw gong.fu shen, tieechuu mo cherng jen
    • Palladius: чжияо гунфу шэнь, течу мо чэн чжэнь (čžijao gunfu šɛnʹ, teču mo čɛn čžɛnʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʐ̩²¹⁴⁻²¹ jɑʊ̯⁵¹ kʊŋ⁵⁵ fu² ʂən⁵⁵ tʰi̯ɛ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰu²¹⁴⁻²¹ mu̯ɔ³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰɤŋ³⁵ ʈ͡ʂən⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zi² jiu³ gung¹ fu¹ sam¹, tit³ cyu⁵ mo⁴ sing⁴ zam¹
    • Yale: jí yiu gūng fū sām, tit chyúh mòh sìhng jām
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzi² jiu³ gung¹ fu¹ sam¹, tit⁸ tsy⁵ mo⁴ sing⁴ dzam¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: ji² yiu³ gung¹ fu¹ sem¹, tid³ qu⁵ mo⁴ xing⁴ zem¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡siː³⁵ jiːu̯³³ kʊŋ⁵⁵ fuː⁵⁵ sɐm⁵⁵ tʰiːt̚³ t͡sʰyː¹³ mɔː²¹ sɪŋ²¹ t͡sɐm⁵⁵/

Proverb

只要功夫深，鐵杵磨成針

1. Diligence is the mother of success. / Practice makes perfect.

Descendants

• → Vietnamese: có công mài sắt có ngày nên kim (calque)