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然后有千里马

然後有千里馬
ránhòuyǒuqiānlǐmǎ
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 and only then is there a thousand-li horse
  2. 2 (fig.) thoroughbred talent exists only where the judge of talent exists first
  3. 3 (lit.) then-after there-is thousand-li horse

Examples

世有伯乐，然后有千里马，千里马常有，而伯乐不常有。
Shì yǒu Bólè, ránhòu yǒu qiānlǐ mǎ, qiānlǐ mǎ cháng yǒu, ér Bólè bù cháng yǒu.
'Only when the world has a Bole does it have a thousand-li horse; thousand-li horses are common, but a Bole is rare.'
企业要先有识才的伯乐，然后有千里马。
Qǐyè yào xiān yǒu shí cái de Bólè, ránhòu yǒu qiānlǐ mǎ.
A company needs a talent-spotting Bole first; 'and only then is there a thousand-li horse.'

Tips

history
From 韩愈《马说》(Han Yu, Tang, ~800 CE), a short allegorical essay: 世有伯乐，然后有千里马。千里马常有，而伯乐不常有。故虽有名马，祗辱于奴隶人之手，骈死于槽枥之间 (The world must first have a Bole, and then there can be a thousand-li horse. Thousand-li horses are common; a Bole is not. So though a famous horse exists, it is shamed at the hands of grooms, and dies side by side in the stalls). 伯乐 = the legendary Qin-era horse-judge; a classic meditation on talent going unrecognized.
usage
Always paired with 世有伯乐 — the inverted causality is the essay's whole point. 千里马 in modern use = 'top talent,' 伯乐 = 'talent-spotter'; both are fully lexicalized. 然后 here = 'only then' (classical sequential), stronger than modern 'after that.'

Stroke Order

然 rán
后 hòu
有 yǒu
千 qiān
里 lǐ
马 mǎ