지성이면 감천이다

Korean

Etymology

Originally a reformulation according to Korean syntax of the Classical Chinese chengyu 至誠感天／至诚感天 (“utmost sincerity moves heaven”), probably ultimately from a line in Mencius (7:12):

誠者，天之道也／诚者，天之道也

As for sincerity, it is the way of heaven

Folk etymological folktale

The proverb is now associated with an etymological folktale about a lame beggar named Jiseong and a blind beggar named Gamcheon. Jiseong would point out the way for his friend, and Gamcheon would carry his friend on his back. One day, the two discovered a huge nugget of gold. They asked a peddler to split the nugget in half so that they could share it, but the gold appeared as a snake in the peddler's eyes. The two then asked a hunter to split the nugget; the gold appeared as a plain stone to the hunter, so he agreed to split it for them. Jiseong and Gamcheon took half the nugget each.

Some time later, they visited a Buddhist temple, where a monk advised them to offer the gold to the Buddha and to pray to him for a hundred days. When they had done so, both Jiseong and Gamcheon were cured of their disabilities.

Pronunciation

(SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [t͡ɕisʰʌ̹ŋimjʌ̹n ka̠(ː)mt͡ɕʰʌ̹nida̠]
Phonetic hangul: [지성이면 감(ː)처니다]
- Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Romanizations
Revised Romanization^?	jiseong'imyeon gamcheonida
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	jiseong'imyeon gamcheon'ida
McCune–Reischauer^?	chisŏngimyŏn kamch'ŏnida
Yale Romanization^?	cisengimyen kāmchen.ita

Proverb

지성 이면 감천 이다 • (jiseong-imyeon gamcheon-ida)

sincerity moves heaven; if one is truly sincere about achieving something, one shall attain it