p8nda
p8nda BETA
Home Dictionary Discord

天将降大任于斯人也

天將降大任於斯人也
tiānjiāngjiàngdàrènyúsīrényě
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 when Heaven is about to place a great charge on such a person
  2. 2 when Heaven intends to entrust a great mission to someone (it first tests him)

Examples

天将降大任于斯人也，必先苦其心志，劳其筋骨。
Tiān jiāng jiàng dà rèn yú sī rén yě, bì xiān kǔ qí xīnzhì, láo qí jīngǔ.
When Heaven is about to give a great task to such a person, it first makes his mind suffer and his bones toil.
遇到挫折要想‘天将降大任于斯人也’。
Yùdào cuòzhé yào xiǎng ‘tiān jiāng jiàng dà rèn yú sī rén yě’.
When facing setbacks, think ‘Heaven is about to entrust a great task to this person.’

Tips

history
From Mencius 《孟子·告子下》: ‘天将降大任于是人也，必先苦其心志，劳其筋骨，饿其体肤…’ The mainland textbook tradition renders the third character as 斯; many classical editions have 是. Both readings mean ‘this / such.’ A famous debate broke out online in 2022 when people noticed the textbook wording differed from some printed classics — scholars confirmed 斯 is a well-attested variant.
usage
斯 (sī) here = this / such (classical demonstrative). 于 = to, upon. 也 is a sentence-final classical particle, not ‘also.’ Always followed by the 必先苦其心志… series.

Stroke Order

天 tiān
将 jiāng
降 jiàng
大 dà
任 rèn
于 yú
斯 sī
人 rén
也 yě