忍辱负重
rěn rǔ fù zhòng
to swallow humiliation for the sake of an important task
Character by character
忍rěn
bear
bear
辱rǔ
insult
insult
负fù
carry
carry
重zhòng
heavy load
heavy load
Example
为了让公司渡过难关，他忍辱负重，把所有的委屈都咽了下去。
To get the company through its crisis he swallowed every humiliation and kept all his grievances to himself.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
Praise for someone who bears insult and hardship for a larger goal; 司马迁 and 越王勾践 are the classic cases. The phrase itself comes from the 三国志 biography of the general 陆逊.
Learn this in Lesson 88 · HSK 6–7: 司马迁与《史记》 (Sima Qian and the Records of the Grand Historian)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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