不到长城非好汉

不到長城非好漢

búdàochángchéngfēihǎohàn

idiom

Meanings

1 one who fails to reach the Great Wall is no true hero — one must persevere and reach the goal to prove oneself
2 literally: not reaching the Great Wall, not a real man

Characters

Examples

都来北京了，不到长城非好汉，一定要去爬一爬。

Dōu lái Běijīng le, búdàochángchéngfēihǎohàn, yídìng yào qù pá yi pá.

Since we're in Beijing, and 'no true hero unless you reach the Great Wall' — we absolutely have to go climb it.

项目再难也要做完，不到长城非好汉。

Xiàngmù zài nán yě yào zuò wán, búdàochángchéngfēihǎohàn.

However hard the project, we must finish it — you're no hero until you reach the Great Wall.

Tips

history

From Mao Zedong's 1935 ci 《清平乐·六盘山》 (Qingpingyue — Liupan Mountain), written during the Long March. The couplet reads: 天高云淡，望断南飞雁。不到长城非好汉，屈指行程二万 — 'The sky is high and clouds thin; I gaze until the southbound geese vanish. One who fails to reach the Great Wall is no hero — I count the miles: twenty thousand li.' The phrase became a Chinese tourism tagline, especially at Badaling Great Wall.

usage

Originally a statement of revolutionary resolve, now most commonly heard as a tourist motto at the Great Wall. Also used figuratively for any 'you must complete the challenge' situation — marathons, tough projects, rites of passage.

Stroke Order

不 bù

到 dào

长 cháng

城 chéng

非 fēi

好 hǎo

汉 hàn