行百里者半於九十

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 something)	half; semi-; incomplete half; semi-; incomplete; (after a number) and a half	in; at; to in; at; to; from; by; than; out of; surname	ninety; 90
trad. (行百里者半於九十)		行	百里	者	半	於	九十
simp. (行百里者半于九十)		行	百里	者	半	于	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.]

---

《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 yú jiǔshí

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄥˊ ㄅㄞˇ ㄌㄧˇ ㄓㄜˇ ㄅㄢˋ ㄩˊ ㄐㄧㄡˇ ㄕˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): hang⁴ baak³ lei⁵ ze² bun³ jyu¹ gau² sap⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xíng bǎilǐ zhě bàn yú jiǔshí [Phonetic: xíngbáilízhěbànyújiǔshí]
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄥˊ ㄅㄞˇ ㄌㄧˇ ㄓㄜˇ ㄅㄢˋ ㄩˊ ㄐㄧㄡˇ ㄕˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: síng bǎilǐ jhě bàn yú jiǒushíh
    • Wade–Giles: hsing² pai³-li³ chê³ pan⁴ yü² chiu³-shih²
    • Yale: syíng bǎi-lǐ jě bàn yú jyǒu-shŕ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyng baelii jee bann yu jeoushyr
    • Palladius: син байли чжэ бань юй цзюши (sin bajli čžɛ banʹ juj czjuši)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕiŋ³⁵ paɪ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ li²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʈ͡ʂɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ pän⁵¹ y³⁵ t͡ɕi̯oʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂʐ̩³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: hang⁴ baak³ lei⁵ ze² bun³ jyu¹ gau² sap⁶
    • Yale: hàhng baak léih jé bun yū gáu sahp
    • Cantonese Pinyin: hang⁴ baak⁸ lei⁵ dze² bun³ jy¹ gau² sap⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: heng⁴ bag³ léi⁵ zé² bun³ yu¹ geo² seb⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɐŋ²¹ paːk̚³ lei̯¹³ t͡sɛː³⁵ puːn³³ jyː⁵⁵ kɐu̯³⁵ sɐp̚²/

Proverb

行百里者半於九十

1. Alternative form of 行百里者半九十 (xíng bǎilǐ zhě bàn jiǔshí, “Things become more difficult when we approach closer to success”)