十年磨一剑

十年磨一劍
shíniánmóyījiàn
idiom #63,265

Meanings

  1. 1 to spend ten years sharpening a single sword
  2. 2 to devote long years to perfecting one thing / patient mastery

Examples

HSK 6
Tā shíniánmóyījiàn, zhōngyú tuīchū le zhèbù dàibiǎozuò.
After ten years of honing his craft, he finally released this masterpiece.
HSK 7-9
Zhè kuǎn xīnpiàn shì tuánduì shíniánmóyījiàn de chéngguǒ.
This chip is the fruit of a team's decade-long dedicated effort.

Tips

history
From Tang poet Jia Dao's (贾岛) 《剑客》: 十年磨一剑霜刃未曾试 - 'Ten years I've honed one sword; the frosty blade has yet to be tested.' Often used in media headlines about long-awaited products or films.
usage
Heavily used in tech, film, and academic contexts for projects that took many years. Gaokao essays love this phrase.

Stroke Order

shí
nián
jiàn