諺語 · a single proverb
臥薪嘗膽，十年雪劍
Simplified: 卧薪尝胆，十年雪剑
What does 臥薪嘗膽，十年雪劍 (wò xīn cháng dǎn shí nián xuě jiàn) mean?
臥薪嘗膽，十年雪劍 (wò xīn cháng dǎn shí nián xuě jiàn) is a four-character classical idiom (chéngyǔ 成語). Word for word it reads "sleep on firewood taste gall, ten years to polish the sword." In use it means: Endure hardship and humiliation for years to prepare for ultimate achievement. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Metal note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Ox.
Literally: "sleep on firewood taste gall, ten years to polish the sword."
The reading
He slept on sticks and tasted bitterness each morning so that the comfortable feeling would not return before the work was done. Self-imposed difficulty is not masochism but calibration: keeping the edge sharp enough to remember what was lost and what must be recovered. Ten years is the price, and it is paid quietly, day by day.
What kind of proverb it is
Source Shi Ji 史記·越王勾踐世家 (Yuè Wáng Gōujiàn biography)
Sits beside
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 Ox, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Tiger.
Questions
Is 臥薪嘗膽，十年雪劍 a real Chinese proverb?
Yes. 臥薪嘗膽，十年雪劍 (wò xīn cháng dǎn shí nián xuě jiàn) is a four-character classical idiom (chéngyǔ 成語), and it comes from Shi Ji 史記·越王勾踐世家 (Yuè Wáng Gōujiàn biography). 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 臥薪嘗膽，十年雪劍?
In Mandarin it is wò xīn cháng dǎn shí nián xuě jiàn. Read the pinyin above each character to follow the tones, or press the speaker beside the calligraphy to hear your browser read 臥薪嘗膽，十年雪劍 aloud in Mandarin.