大器晚成

See also: 大器晩成

Chinese

		treasure	evening; night; late	finish; complete; accomplish finish; complete; accomplish; become; turn into; win; succeed; one tenth
trad. (大器晚成)		大器	晚	成
simp. #(大器晚成)		大器	晚	成
Literally: “great vessels take years to produce”.

Etymology

From Tao Te Ching:

大方無隅，大器晚成。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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大方无隅，大器晚成。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Tao Te Ching, 4^th century BCE

Dà fāng wú yú, dàqìwǎnchéng. [Pinyin]

Its largest square doth yet no corner show; a vessel great, it is the slowest made.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): dàqìwǎnchéng

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄚˋ ㄑㄧˋ ㄨㄢˇ ㄔㄥˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): daai⁶ hei³ maan⁵ sing⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: dàqìwǎnchéng
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄚˋ ㄑㄧˋ ㄨㄢˇ ㄔㄥˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: dàcìwǎnchéng
    • Wade–Giles: ta⁴-chʻi⁴-wan³-chʻêng²
    • Yale: dà-chì-wǎn-chéng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dahchihwoancherng
    • Palladius: дациваньчэн (dacivanʹčɛn)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tä⁵¹⁻⁵³ t͡ɕʰi⁵¹ wän²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂʰɤŋ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: daai⁶ hei³ maan⁵ sing⁴
    • Yale: daaih hei máahn sìhng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: daai⁶ hei³ maan⁵ sing⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: dai⁶ héi³ man⁵ xing⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /taːi̯²² hei̯³³ maːn¹³ sɪŋ²¹/

Idiom

大器晚成

1. a great talent takes time to mature; in the fullness of time, a major figure will develop into a pillar of the state