不遠千里

Chinese

		not; no	far; distant; remote	one thousand li; any great distance; fine horse one thousand li; any great distance; fine horse; fine steed; fast horse
trad. (不遠千里)		不	遠	千里
simp. (不远千里)		不	远	千里
Literally: “to make light of travelling a thousand li”.

Etymology

From Mencius (《孟子·梁惠王上》):

孟子見梁惠王。王曰：「叟不遠千里而來，亦將有以利吾國乎？」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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孟子见梁惠王。王曰：「叟不远千里而来，亦将有以利吾国乎？」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Mèngzǐ jiàn Liáng Huì wáng. Wáng yuē: “Sǒu bù yuǎn qiānlǐ ér lái, yì jiāng yǒu yǐ lì wú guó hū?” [Pinyin]

Mencius went to see king Hui of Liang. The king said, "Venerable sir, since you have not counted it far to come here, a distance of a thousand li, may I presume that you are provided with counsels to profit my kingdom?"

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bùyuǎnqiānlǐ

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˋ ㄩㄢˇ ㄑㄧㄢ ㄌㄧˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): bat¹ jyun⁵ cin¹ lei⁵

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bùyuǎnqiānlǐ
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄩㄢˇ ㄑㄧㄢ ㄌㄧˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bùyuǎncianlǐ
    • Wade–Giles: pu⁴-yüan³-chʻien¹-li³
    • Yale: bù-ywǎn-chyān-lǐ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: buyeuanchianlii
    • Palladius: буюаньцяньли (bujuanʹcjanʹli)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu⁵¹ ɥɛn²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ li²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: bat¹ jyun⁵ cin¹ lei⁵
    • Yale: bāt yúhn chīn léih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: bat⁷ jyn⁵ tsin¹ lei⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: bed¹ yun⁵ qin¹ léi⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɐt̚⁵ jyːn¹³ t͡sʰiːn⁵⁵ lei̯¹³/

Idiom

不遠千里

1. to make light of travelling from afar; to go to the trouble of travelling a long distance

Synonyms

• 不遠萬里／不远万里 (bùyuǎnwànlǐ)