咬菜根

yǎocàigēn

idiom

Meanings

1 to make do with a frugal life; to contentedly endure hardship

Characters

Examples

HSK 3

年轻时能咬菜根，将来什么事都难不倒。

Niánqīng shí néng yǎocàigēn, jiānglái shénme shì dōu nán bu dǎo.

If you can stomach a humble life when you're young, nothing will faze you later.

HSK 7-9

他宁愿咬菜根也不肯低头求人。

Tā nìngyuàn yǎocàigēn yě bùkěn dītóu qiúrén.

He'd rather live on vegetable roots than bow his head and ask anyone for help.

Tips

history

From Song scholar Wang Xinmin's saying, preserved by Lü Benzhong: 人常咬得菜根，则百事可做 - 'Anyone who can chew vegetable roots can accomplish anything.' The maxim became the title of the Ming classic 菜根谭.

Stroke Order

咬 yǎo

菜 cài

根 gēn