行百里者半於九十

Chinese

to go; to do; capable
to go; to do; capable; all right; competent; OK; to travel; temporary; to walk; will do; behaviour; conduct; a row; profession; professional
 
 a hundred li ‑ist, ‑er (person); person (who does something)
half; semi-; incomplete
half; semi-; incomplete; (after a number) and a half
 
in; at; to
in; at; to; from; by; than; out of; surname
 
 ninety; 90
trad. (行百里者半於九十) 行 百里 者 半 於 九十
simp. (行百里者半于九十) 行 百里 者 半 于 九十

Etymology

From Zhanguoce:

《詩》云：『行百里者半於九十』，此言末路之難也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
《诗》云：『行百里者半于九十』，此言末路之难也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: Zhanguo Ce, circa 5th – 3rd centuries BCE
“shī” yún: ‘Xíngbǎilǐzhěbànyújiǔshí’, cǐ yán mòlù zhī nán yě. [Pinyin]
Shijing said, "In a hundred-li journey, the first ninety li is merely half of it." This describes the difficulty towards the end of the journey.

Pronunciation

  • Mandarin
    (Pinyin): xíng bǎilǐ zhě bàn yú jiǔshí
    (Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄥˊ ㄅㄞˇ ㄌㄧˇ ㄓㄜˇ ㄅㄢˋ ㄩˊ ㄐㄧㄡˇ ㄕˊ
  • Cantonese (Jyutping): hang4 baak3 lei5 ze2 bun3 jyu1 gau2 sap6
  • Mandarin
    • (Standard Chinese)+
      • Hanyu Pinyin: xíng bǎilǐ zhě bàn yú jiǔshí [Phonetic: xíngbáilízhěbànyújiǔshí]
      • Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄥˊ ㄅㄞˇ ㄌㄧˇ ㄓㄜˇ ㄅㄢˋ ㄩˊ ㄐㄧㄡˇ ㄕˊ
      • Tongyong Pinyin: síng bǎilǐ jhě bàn yú jiǒushíh
      • Wade–Giles: hsing2 pai3-li3 chê3 pan4 yü2 chiu3-shih2
      • Yale: syíng bǎi-lǐ jě bàn yú jyǒu-shŕ
      • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyng baelii jee bann yu jeoushyr
      • Palladius: син байли чжэ бань юй цзюши (sin bajli čžɛ banʹ juj czjuši)
      • Sinological IPA (key): /ɕiŋ³⁵ paɪ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ li²¹⁴⁻³⁵ ʈ͡ʂɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ pän⁵¹ y³⁵ t͡ɕi̯oʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂʐ̩³⁵/
  • Cantonese

Proverb

行百里者半於九十

  1. alternative form of 行百里者半九十 (xíng bǎilǐ zhě bàn jiǔshí, “Things become more difficult when we approach closer to success”)
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