学华语Learn Chinese with BaoOpen the course

自强不息

zì qiáng bù xī

to strive tirelessly to improve

Character by character

自zì
self
强qiáng
strengthen
不bù
not
息xī
rest

Example

她身患残疾,却自强不息,成了一名律师。
Despite her disability, she never stopped striving and became a lawyer.

Tone: positive (praise).

Usage and origin

From the 《周易》 line 天行健,君子以自强不息, and part of Tsinghua University’s motto.

Learn it in context
This idiom and thousands more are in Learn Chinese with Bao, with audio, pinyin and drills that make them stick.
Start the course free →

More idioms