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愚公移山

yú gōng yí shān

determination that moves mountains

Character by character

愚yú
foolish
公gōng
old man
移yí
move
山shān
mountain

Example

靠着愚公移山的精神,村民们修通了山路。
With sheer determination, the villagers built a road through the mountains.

Tone: positive (praise).

Usage and origin

From 《列子》: Old Man Yu began digging away two mountains, saying his descendants would finish the job.

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