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万里长城今犹在

萬里長城今猶在
Wànlǐ chángchéng jīn yóu zài
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 the Ten-Thousand-Li Great Wall still stands today
  2. 2 (fig.) walls endure - but the men who built them are long gone
  3. 3 (lit.) ten-thousand-li Great Wall now still exists

Examples

HSK 7-9
万里长城今犹在，不见当年秦始皇。这句常用来讽刺争夺的虚空。
Wànlǐchángchéngjīnyóuzài, bújiàn dāngnián qínshǐhuáng. Zhè jù chángyòng lái fěngcì zhēngduó de xūkōng.
'The Great Wall still stands today, but the First Emperor is nowhere to be seen' - often quoted to mock the emptiness of struggle.
HSK 7-9
同事为了一点小事争执，她劝道万里长城今犹在，何必计较。
Tóngshì wèile yìdiǎn xiǎoshì zhēngzhí, tā quàn dào wànlǐchángchéngjīnyóuzài, hébì jìjiào.
When colleagues quarreled over trifles, she counseled: 'the Great Wall still stands - why bother with small scores?'

Tips

history
From a folk tale attributed variously to 张英 (Zhang Ying, Qing dynasty Grand Secretary) or his son 张廷玉: in the 六尺巷 (Six-Foot Lane) story, Zhang's family wrote him about a wall dispute with neighbors, and he replied with a poem: 千里修书只为墙，让他三尺又何妨。万里长城今犹在，不见当年秦始皇 (A thousand-li letter, only for a wall - yield three feet, what harm? The Great Wall still stands today, but the First Emperor is gone). The family yielded, the neighbors yielded back, and a six-foot lane was born - still shown in Tongcheng, Anhui.
usage
Almost always quoted with the follow-up 不见当年秦始皇. 犹 here = 'still, yet' (classical). The couplet is a favorite for moral instruction about generosity and letting go.

Stroke Order

万 wàn
里 lǐ
长 cháng
城 chéng
今 jīn
犹 yóu
在 zài