三顾茅庐

三顧茅廬

sāngùmáolú

idiom #96,802

Meanings

1 to make three visits to the thatched cottage
2 to make earnest, repeated requests for someone's help

Characters

to visit / call on

Examples

公司老板三顾茅庐，终于请他出山担任顾问。

Gōngsī lǎobǎn sāngùmáolú, zhōngyú qǐng tā chūshān dānrèn gùwèn.

The company CEO made three earnest visits before finally persuading him to come out of retirement as a consultant.

他三顾茅庐才请到这位名师。

Tā sāngùmáolú cái qǐng dào zhè wèi míngshī.

He had to visit three times before this famous teacher agreed to come.

Tips

history

From 诸葛亮《出师表》and Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Liu Bei (刘备) visited Zhuge Liang's (诸葛亮) thatched cottage three times during the late Han to recruit him as his strategist. Zhuge Liang accepted on the third visit.

Stroke Order

三 sān

顾 gù

茅 máo

庐 lú