Chinese idioms to discourage procrastination

Proverbs aimed at encouraging people to snap out of idleness and laziness.

也要马儿好,也要马儿不吃草 [也要馬兒好也要馬兒不吃草]

Yě yaò mǎ ér haǒ, yě yaò mǎ ér bù chī caǒ [ye yao ma er hao, ye yao ma er bu chi cao]

also want horse good, also want horse not eat grass

Want the horse to prosper, but not want the horse to eat grass

To prosper you must make compromises, you can not have it all your own way

You can't have your cake and eat it

乐不思蜀 [樂不思蜀]

Lè bù sī Shǔ [le bu si Shu]

happy not consider Shu

So happy that the kingdom of Shu is forgotten

Lost in present pleasures so as to forget home and duties. Said of Liu Chan ruler of the Shu kingdom (Sichuan province) who when defeated and in exile heard songs of his old kingdom but did not become melancholy like his other guests. So it refers to someone living in the present and not caring about the past. Lost in the moment

亡羊补牢 [亡羊補牢]

Wáng yáng bǔ láo [wang yang bu lao]

lose sheep mend pen

Mend the pen after the sheep are lost

Can mean taking action too late or else taking action to protect against a future repeat of misfortune

Mending the stable door after the horse has bolted

安步当车 [安步當車]

Ān bù dàng chē [an bu dang che]

content walk replace vehicle

Choosing to walk rather than take the limousine

Turn down luxury and high office for a simpler life. The story is of a scholar from the Warring States period who was offered great wealth and his own carriage to serve the King of Qi.

华而不实 [華而不實]

Huá ér bù shí [hua er bu shi]

flower but not fruit

Flowering but not bearing fruit

Said of someone is all show and no substance

All that glitters is not gold

粗枝大叶

Cū zhī dà yè [cu zhi da ye]

thick branch big leaf

A large branch with large leaves. Unable to draw in fine detail

Lack of attention to detail

一步登天

Yī bù dēng tiān [yi bu deng tian]

one stride reach heaven

Approach heaven with a single stride

An attempt to achieve a goal all in one go without hard work

Rome was not built in a day

食言而肥

Shí yán ér féi [shi yan er fei]

eat words and so fat

Getting fat by eating one?s words

Someone is forever retracting what was previously said. Someone with poor judgment and a big mouth. The story is of a minister Meng Wubo of the kingdom of Lu who often pontificated only to contradict himself. A snide commentator suggested that Meng was growing fat because he ate so many of his own words.

Shoot your mouth off

东食西宿 [東食西宿]

Dōng shí xī sù [dong shi xi su]

east food west night

Eating in the east and sleeping in the west

Taking fully advantage of kindly offers - accepting hospitality in a selfish way. The story is of a girl who was asked to choose whether to live with a family in the east or west side of a village. She chose to eat with the rich family of one suitor on the east side but also sleep with the poor but good looking suitor on the west side.

Butter one's bread on both sides

宴安酖毒

Yàn ān zhèn dú [yan an zhen du]

repose content poisoned wine

Comfortable living is like drinking poisoned wine

Lulled into laziness and indifference by comfortable living.

Sofa spud

远水救不了近火 [遠水救不了近火]

Yuǎn shuǐ jiǔ bù liaǒ huǒ [yuan shui jiu bu liao huo]

far water rescued not near fire

Distant water will not extinguish the nearby fire

There is no point in waiting for far off help. Get to it and solve the problem now

Make it snappy

走马看花 [走馬看花]

Zǒu mǎ kàn huā [zou ma kan hua]

walk horse look flower

Looking at the flowers while riding a horse

To take a cursory look at something. Smug

袖手旁观 [袖手旁觀]

Xiù shǒu páng guān [xiu shou pang guan]

sleeve hand side observe

To look on with folded arms

To look on without offering any help or showing concern

Ming dynasty, Summer Palace, bridge, Beijing

Summer Palace bridge with 17 arches, Beijing

五十步笑一百步

Wǔ shí bù xiào yī bǎi bù [wu shi bu xiao yi bai bu]

50 pace smile 100 pace

Fifty steps laugh at a hundred steps

Being complacent about the future. Believing a job is all but done when only half done.

Pride comes before a fall

裹足不前

Guǒ zú bù qián [guo zu bu qian]

bind foot not ahead

Dithering about

Unable to move forward due to misgivings. To hesitate about getting on and doing something.

All of a dither

旷日持久 [曠日持久]

Kuàng rì chí jiǔ [kuang ri chi jiu]

waste day protracted

Wasting a great deal of time

Spending a protracted length of time on a task. A waste of time.

A wild goose chase

悬崖勒马 [懸崖勒馬]

Xuán yá lè mǎ [xuan ya le ma]

precipice rein in horse

Rein in the horse at the cliff edge

Realize danger at the last moment

今日事,今日毕 [今日事今日畢]

Jīn rì shì, jīn rì bì [jin ri shi, jin ri bi]

this day task, this day complete

Today's task, today's job to complete

Finish the current job before starting something new

Don't put off until tomorrow what can be done today

以郑为壑 [以鄭爲壑]

Yǐ zhèng wèi hè [yi zheng wei he]

use Zheng as gully

Building a drain onto neighbor?s land

Diverting flood water onto neighbor's land - moving a problem onto others rather than try to solve it. Acting selfishly.

Look out for number one

差强人意 [差強人意]

Chā qiáng rén yì [cha qiang ren yi]

difference slightly better person idea

Just passable

Just about good enough an effort. Someone showing minimum of commitment to meet a goal. Barely satisfactory.

Swinging the lead

一曝十寒

Yī pù shí hán [yi pu shi han]

one sunning ten cold

One day in the sun and then ten days of freezing

The story is that second sage of Confucianism, Mencius (Menzi) said this of the king of Qi. He considered him a person who only showed enthusiasm for Mencius' ideas for a short time while he was around to encourage him to ruling well. So it has come to describe the many people who have short bursts of enthusiasm - no staying power.

Blowing hot and cold

好好先生

Hǎo hǎo xiān shēng [hao hao xian sheng]

good good mister

Yes-man

Someone who agrees with everything said. More likely to be so as to not give any offense rather than ingratiating

逆来顺受 [逆來順受]

Nì lái shùn shòu [ni lai shun shou]

disobey arrive obey receive

Do not block but welcome arrival

Deal with things as they happen; do not put them off

志不可慢时不可失 [志不可慢旹不可失]

Zhì bù kě màn shí bù kě shī [zhi bu ke man shi bu ke shi]

aspiration not can slow, time not can lose

Do not let your aspirations weaken; do not waste time

Keep hold of your hopes and dreams, waste no time in achieving them

Don't change horses midstream

道听途说 [道聽途說]

Dào tīng tú shuō [dao ting tu shuo]

road listen road speak

Paying heed to gossip

Listening to roadside gossip or tittle-tattle.

舍本逐末 [捨本逐末]

Shě běn zhú mò [she ben zhu mo]

abandon foundation pursue end

Pursuing trivia while neglecting essentials

Concentrating on the little details rather than the important stuff

Putting the cart before the horse

Cave 11, Yungang Grottoes, near Datong, Shanxi. October 2005.
Image by Felix Andrews ➚ available under a Creative Commons license ➚

怀安丧志 [懷安喪志]

Huái ān sàng zhì [huai an sang zhi]

heart content lose ambition

A contented life saps the will

Living a life of idleness and contentment can lead to idleness and laziness.

A Lotus eater

Our proverbs come with full information. The modern Chinese characters are given first with links that give information on the character. As proverbs are so old you will often see them written using the traditional form of characters; so if of the characters have been simplified the phrase is shown in brackets and gray text. . The characters are followed by the proverb (Chengyu) in pinyin. Next, there is a crude character by character transliteration into English, followed by a more accurate English translation. If this is a Chinese proverb alluding to history the meaning may still not be clear in English, so the general meaning follows. Finally some proverbs have fairly direct English equivalents, if so the English proverb is shown.

Our translations are in need of improvement, so please let us know your ideas. For background on the types and history of proverbs please see our guide.