迎刃而解

yíngrèn'érjiě

idiom #22,405

Meanings

1 (of a problem) to be solved easily
2 to resolve itself
3 to be easily dealt with once you get started

Characters

to meet / to face / to go toward

blade / cutting edge

and then / as a result (classical connective)

to split apart / to resolve / to solve

Examples

找到了问题的根源，其他麻烦就迎刃而解了。

Zhǎodào le wèntí de gēnyuán, qítā máfan jiù yíngrèn ér jiě le.

Once the root cause was found, all the other problems resolved themselves easily.

只要掌握了方法，难题自然迎刃而解。

Zhǐyào zhǎngwòle fāngfǎ, nántí zìrán yíngrèn ér jiě.

Once you master the method, difficult problems will naturally solve themselves.

Tips

history

From the Jin dynasty (265–420 AD) general Du Yu (杜预), who described his military success: when the blade meets the bamboo along the grain (迎刃), the bamboo splits effortlessly all the way down. This describes a breakthrough that makes everything that follows easy.

Stroke Order

迎 yíng

刃 rèn

而 ér

解 jiě