鍥而不捨

Chinese

	cut; to carve	and; as well as; but (not) and; as well as; but (not); yet (not); (shows causal relation); (shows change of state); (shows contrast)	to not stop; to hate to part with
trad. (鍥而不捨/鍥而不舍)	鍥	而	不捨/不舍
simp. (锲而不舍)	锲	而	不舍
Literally: “to chisel without giving up”.

Etymology

From Xunzi:

鍥而舍之，朽木不折；鍥而不舍，金石可鏤。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

锲而舍之，朽木不折；锲而不舍，金石可镂。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Xunzi, c. 3^rd century BCE

Qiè ér shě zhī, xiǔmù bù zhé; qiè'érbùshě, jīnshí kě lòu. [Pinyin]

If you start carving and give up, you will not be able to break even rotten wood, but if you start carving and do not give up, then you can engrave even metal and stone.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): qiè'érbùshě

(Zhuyin): ㄑㄧㄝˋ ㄦˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄕㄜˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): kit³ ji⁴ bat¹ se²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: qiè'érbùshě
  - Zhuyin: ㄑㄧㄝˋ ㄦˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄕㄜˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: ciè-érbùshě
  - Wade–Giles: chʻieh⁴-êrh²-pu⁴-shê³
  - Yale: chyè-ér-bù-shě
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chieherlbushee
  - Palladius: цеэрбушэ (ceerbušɛ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰi̯ɛ⁵¹ ˀɤɻ³⁵ pu⁵¹ ʂɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: kit³ ji⁴ bat¹ se²
  - Yale: kit yìh bāt sé
  - Cantonese Pinyin: kit⁸ ji⁴ bat⁷ se²
  - Guangdong Romanization: kid³ yi⁴ bed¹ sé²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰiːt̚³ jiː²¹ pɐt̚⁵ sɛː³⁵/

Idiom

鍥而不捨

to persevere; to continue doing something in a determined way and not give up