行百里者半九十

Chinese

		to go; to do; capable to go; to do; capable; all right; competent; OK; to travel; temporary; to walk; will do; behaviour; conduct; a row; profession; professional	a hundred li	‑ist, ‑er (person); person (who does sth)	half; semi-; incomplete half; semi-; incomplete; (after a number) and a half	ninety; 90
simp. and trad. (行百里者半九十)		行	百里	者	半	九十

Etymology

From Zhanguoce:

《詩》云：『行百里者半於九十』，此言末路之難也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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《诗》云：『行百里者半于九十』，此言末路之难也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Zhanguo Ce, circa 5^th – 3^rd centuries BCE

“shī” yún: ‘Xíngbǎilǐzhěbànyújiǔshí’, cǐ yán mòlù zhī nán yě. [Pinyin]

Shijing said, "In a hundred-li journey, the first ninety li is merely half of it." This describes the difficulty towards the end of the journey.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xíng bǎilǐ zhě bàn jiǔshí

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄥˊ ㄅㄞˇ ㄌㄧˇ ㄓㄜˇ ㄅㄢˋ ㄐㄧㄡˇ ㄕˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): hang⁴ baak³ lei⁵ ze² bun³ gau² sap⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xíng bǎilǐ zhě bàn jiǔshí [Phonetic: xíngbáilízhěbànjiǔshí]
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄥˊ ㄅㄞˇ ㄌㄧˇ ㄓㄜˇ ㄅㄢˋ ㄐㄧㄡˇ ㄕˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: síng bǎilǐ jhě bàn jiǒushíh
    • Wade–Giles: hsing² pai³-li³ chê³ pan⁴ chiu³-shih²
    • Yale: syíng bǎi-lǐ jě bàn jyǒu-shŕ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyng baelii jee bann jeoushyr
    • Palladius: син байли чжэ бань цзюши (sin bajli čžɛ banʹ czjuši)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕiŋ³⁵ paɪ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ li²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʈ͡ʂɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ pän⁵¹ t͡ɕi̯oʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂʐ̩³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: hang⁴ baak³ lei⁵ ze² bun³ gau² sap⁶
    • Yale: hàhng baak léih jé bun gáu sahp
    • Cantonese Pinyin: hang⁴ baak⁸ lei⁵ dze² bun³ gau² sap⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: heng⁴ bag³ léi⁵ zé² bun³ geo² seb⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɐŋ²¹ paːk̚³ lei̯¹³ t͡sɛː³⁵ puːn³³ kɐu̯³⁵ sɐp̚²/

Proverb

行百里者半九十

1. Things become more difficult when we approach closer to success

Synonyms

• 行百里者半於九十 (xíng bǎilǐ zhě bàn yú jiǔshí)