迎刃而解
yíng rèn ér jiě
(of a problem) to be easily solved once the key is found
Character by character
迎yíng
meet
meet
刃rèn
blade
blade
而ér
and
and
解jiě
split
split
Example
找到了问题的根源，其他几个小问题也就迎刃而解了。
Once the root of the problem was found, the smaller ones solved themselves.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
From the biography of the general 杜预 in the History of Jin (《晋书》): once the first few joints of a bamboo are split, the rest split as they meet the blade. The subject is the problem (问题、难题、矛盾), not the person: say 问题迎刃而解, not ×他迎刃而解了问题.
Learn this in Lesson 129 · HSK 7–9: 老小区加装电梯 (Putting lifts into old blocks)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. This lesson is free.
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