諺語 · a single proverb
聞雞起舞
Simplified: 闻鸡起舞
What does 聞雞起舞 (wén jī qǐ wǔ) mean?
聞雞起舞 (wén jī qǐ wǔ) is a four-character classical idiom (chéngyǔ 成語). Word for word it reads "hear the rooster and rise to train." In use it means: To wake at the first crow and begin, a diligence that starts before the day asks for it. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Wood note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Rooster.
Literally: "hear the rooster and rise to train."
The reading
The crow that wakes the yard is a summons you have learned to love. You are most yourself in the first hour, when the discipline belongs to you alone and the day has made no demands yet.
The story
From the Book of Jin, in the biography of Zu Ti. As a young man in an age of turmoil, Zu Ti shared a bed with his friend Liu Kun; hearing the rooster crow in the dead of night, he woke his friend and the two rose to practice swordplay in the dark. The diligence that begins before the day asks for it made him a general who fought to reclaim the lost north.
Claim the first hour of the day before anyone can spend it for you. Rise to the one discipline that is wholly yours while the house is still quiet, and let the day find you already moving.
What kind of proverb it is
Source Book of Jin 晉書, Zu Ti 祖逖傳
Sits beside
一年之計在於春，一日之計在於晨
yī nián zhī jì zài yú chūn, yī rì zhī jì zài yú chén
Begin at the beginning: the whole shape of a year or a day is set by what you do at its first hour.
天行健，君子以自強不息
tiān xíng jiàn, jūn zǐ yǐ zì qiáng bù xī
The cosmos never rests in its turning, so a worthy person keeps improving without pause.
水滴石穿
shuǐ dī shí chuān
Persistent small effort will overcome any obstacle in time.
Keep reading
Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in Perseverance & the Long Road, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Rooster, Year of the Rabbit, Year of the Dragon, and Year of the Ox.
Questions
Is 聞雞起舞 a real Chinese proverb?
Yes. 聞雞起舞 (wén jī qǐ wǔ) is a four-character classical idiom (chéngyǔ 成語), and it comes from Book of Jin 晉書, Zu Ti 祖逖傳. It is living Chinese heritage, given here with per-character pinyin and its source so you can trust the line, not a phrase invented in English.
How do you pronounce 聞雞起舞?
In Mandarin it is wén jī qǐ wǔ. Read the pinyin above each character to follow the tones, or press the speaker beside the calligraphy to hear your browser read 聞雞起舞 aloud in Mandarin.