乘風破浪 (Chéng fēng pò làng)
To brave the wind and the billows (idiom); to have high ambitions
Explanation: Follow the wind and brave the waves to move forward. This is a metaphor for having great ambitions and being not afraid of difficult circumstances.
In the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, the Song Kingdom had a general named Zong Que (宗愨), who was very brave and had great aspiration ever since he was young. One day, Zong Que’s paternal uncle asked him if he had any ambition, to which he replied: “I wish to ride strong winds and brave the thousand-li waves.” By this he meant: I will break through all obstacles [in my way] and advance bravely [in life], creating a worthy career for myself. Zong Que [then] studied diligently, trained assiduously, and strove for self-betterment with great effort, when he eventually became a great general on the battlefield.
[Note: The original Chinese text is “願乘長風破萬裏浪”, which literally translates to “I wish to ride long-duration winds and break ten-thousand-li waves”.]
From https://dict.idioms.moe.edu.tw/bookView.jsp?ID=119
According to “The Book of Song – Chapter 76, Biography of Zong Que”, the Zhen Wu (振武, lit. strength inspiring awe, where Zhen Wu is a military title) general Zong Que (宗愨) from the Southern Song dynasty was brave, courageous, and insightful since his youth, who had trained to be proficient in the martial arts. He had a free-spirit, unrestrained personality, and there were times when he allowed his emotions to affect his decisions. His paternal uncle Zong Bing (宗炳) once asked him of his future endeavors, to which he replied: “I wish to ride strong winds and brave the thousand-li waves.” This fully expresses his cherished aspirations, his fearlessness for any [potential] obstacles [in the way], and of his brave spirit in [continuing to] press forward. Zong Bing was a noble and renown scholar known for distancing himself from influential figures (清流), who had long spent his life in reclusion and focused on reading books and painting. The emperor once invited him to become an official, but he tactfully declined [the offer]. Since he knew his nephew’s personality well, he couldn’t help but felt a bit worried upon hearing this remark, believing that his nephew would in the future either accomplish great deeds or become a liability to the family. Later, Zong Que was promoted, and due to his many heroic contributions in the conquest of the State of Linyi, the emperor praised him greatly and enfeoffed him as the Marquis of Taoyang (洮陽侯). The idiom “Ride The Wind, Brave The Waves” evolved from this story, where the original meaning was to follow the wind and brave the waves to move forward. Later on, it was also used to to describe someone with great aspirations, who does not fear difficulties and forges ahead bravely.
[Note: throughout this post I have used “brave the waves”, but the original Chinese text is “破浪”, which should be translated as “break the waves” instead. I like “brave the waves” better, so will keep it as is.]
—– VOCABULARY —–
愨 què – honest [[khác, xác: kính cẩn, thành thực, trung hậu; cũng viết là 悫]]
抱負 bào fù – aspiration; ambition [[nguyện vọng, hoài bão, khát vọng]]
抱 bào – to hold; to carry (in one’s arms); to hug; to embrace; to surround; to cherish [[bão: điều ôm ấp trong lòng, hung hoài; lượng từ – vòng ôm của hai cánh tay; ôm, ẵm, bế, bồng; nuôi nấng, dưỡng dục; giữ, mang ở bên trong; vây quanh, bao quanh; canh giữ]]
突破 tū pò – to break through; to make a breakthrough; to surmount or break the back of (a task etc); (of ball sports) to break through a defense
突 tū – to dash; to move forward quickly; to bulge; to protrude; to break through; to rush out; sudden [[đột: chợt, thốt nhiên; xúc phạm đến; xuyên qua, chọc thủng, phá vỡ; cao ngất, bất ngờ, nổi bật, lồi lên; ống khói, miệng lò]]
一切 yī qiè – everything; every; all
切 qiè – definitely; absolutely (not); (scoffing or dismissive interjection) Yeah, right; Tut!; to grind; close to; eager; to correspond to [[thiết: cắt, bổ, thái; khắc; nghiến, cắn chặt; sát, gần; bắt mạch; quyết, nhất định, chắc chắn; rất, hết sức, lắm; ccần kíp, cấp bách, cấp xúc; thân gần, gần gũi]]
障礙 zhàng ài – barrier; obstruction; hindrance; impediment; obstacle [[chướng ngại; vật ngăn cản]]
障 zhàng – to block; to hinder; to obstruct [[chướng: cản trở, ngăn; che lấp; bảo hộ, phòng vệ; bờ đê; màn che cửa, bình phong]]
礙 ài – to hinder; to obstruct; to block [[ngại: ngăn trở; hạn chế; làm hại, phương hại; che lấp; vướng mắc]]
勇往直前 yǒng wǎng zhí qián – to advance bravely
幹 gàn – to do; to work; to manage; capable; main part of sth; tree trunk [[cán: làm, mưu cầu; chủ yếu, chính; tài năng; cái chuôi; sự tình, sự việc; thân, mình, bộ phận chủ yếu]]
勤 qín – diligent; industrious; hardworking; frequent; regular; constant [[cần: bắt làm việc hình dịch; siêng năng làm, chăm chỉ làm; cứu giúp; thường xuyên; hết lòng, hết sức; việc làm, công tác; việc nhọc nhằn, vất vả; thành khẩn, chu đáo]]
奮鬥 fèn dòu – to strive; to struggle [[phấn đấu; cố gắng; đấu tranh]]
奮 fèn – to exert oneself (bound form) [[phấn: gắng sức lên; giơ lên; chấn động, rung động; dũng mãnh tiến tới, không sợ chết; chim dang cánh bắt đầu bay]]
征 zhēng – journey; trip; expedition; to go on long campaign; to attack; to invite; to recruit; to levy (taxes); to draft (troops); phenomenon; symptom; characteristic sign (used as proof); evidence [[chinh: đi xa; đánh, dẹp; trưng thu, lấy thuế; tranh đoạt; thuế]]
振 zhèn – to shake, to flap, to vibrate, to resonate, to rise up with spirit, to rouse oneself [[chấn: rung, giũ, lắc, khua; cứu giúp; phấn khởi, làm cho hăng hái; chấn chỉnh; vang dội, lẫy lừng, rung chuyển; thu nhận; thôi, dừng lại]]
膽識 dǎn shí – courage and insight
拘束 jū shù – to restrict; to restrain; constrained; awkward; ill at ease; uncomfortable; reticent
拘 jū – to capture; to restrain; to constrain; to adhere rigidly to; inflexible [[câu: bắt; cố chấp, thủ cựu, câu nệ; gò bó; hạn chế, hạn định; cong]]
束 shù – to bind; bunch; bundle; classifier for bunches, bundles, beams of light etc; to control [[thúc: buộc, bó lại; lượng từ – gói, bó]]
意氣用事 yì qì yòng shì – to let emotions affect one’s decisions
炳 bǐng – bright; brilliant; luminous [[bỉnh: rõ ràng, minh bạch; sáng tỏ, quang minh]]
充分 chōng fèn – ample; sufficient; adequate; full; fully; to the full
充 chōng – to fill; to satisfy; to fulfill; to act in place of; substitute; sufficient; full [[sung: đầy, tràn; chất vào, lấp chặt, nạp; gánh vác, đảm nhậm; giả mạo, giả làm; tịch thu]]
胸懷 xiōng huái – one’s bosom (the seat of emotions); breast; broad-minded and open; to think about; to cherish
胸 xiōng – chest; bosom; heart; mind; thorax [[hung: ngực; tấm lòng, hoài bão]]
奮勇 fèn yǒng – dauntless; to summon up courage and determination; using extreme force of will
前進 qián jìn – to go forward; to forge ahead; to advance; onward [[tiến lên trước]]
清流 (literary, figuratively, historical) renowned scholars unwilling to associate with influential scholars
務 wù – affair; business; matter; to be engaged in; to attend to; by all means [[vụ: chuyên tâm, chăm chú; mưu lấy, truy cầu; nhất thiết, cốt phải, tất dùng; việc, công tác]]
婉拒 wǎn jù – to tactfully decline; to turn down gracefully
婉 wǎn – graceful; tactful [[uyển: nhún thuận, hòa thuận; tốt đẹp]]
拒 jù – to resist; to repel; to refuse [[cự: chống lại; cầm giữ, cứ thủ; từ khước, không tiếp nhận; làm trái]]
深知 shēn zhī – to know well, to be fully aware of
姪 zhí – nephew by the male line [[điệt: tiếng xưng hô – cháu; (1) con của anh hay em trai mình; (2) tiếng gọi con của bạn bè mình; (3) tiếng tự xưng đối với bậc tuổi tác tương đương với cha mình]]
不免 bù miǎn – inevitably [[không thể bỏ qua, không thể tránh khỏi]]
揚眉吐氣
不是 bú shi – fault, blame
吐 tǔ – to spit; to put; to say [[thổ: nhổ, nhả; nói ra, phát ra; mọc lên, sinh ra; hiện ra, bày ra, lộ ra; vứt bỏ; nôn, mửa; nhả ra (trả lại); lời nói, văn từ]]
提拔 tí bá – to promote to a higher job; to select for promotion [[đề bạt, tiến cử]]
拔 bá – to pull up; to pull out; to draw out by suction; to select; to pick; to stand out (above level); to surpass; to seize [[bạt: nhổ, rút; hút ra, kéo ra ngoài; cải biến, dời đổi; trừ khử; cất nhắc, tuyển chọn; vượt trội; đánh chiếm; chuôi mũi tên; nhanh, vội]]
汗馬功勞 hàn mǎ gōng láo – lit. to ride a laboring horse to great deeds; fig. a heroic contribution
洮 táo – to cleanse; name of a river [[thao: sông “Thao” ở tỉnh Cam Túc; tên đất cổ, nay ở Sơn Đong, thời Xuân Thu thuộc về Tào 曹; một âm là “đào” – rửa tay; giặt, rửa, thông “đào” 淘]]
本義 běn yì – original meaning; literal sense [[nghĩa gốc, nghĩa ban đầu, nghĩa vốn có]]
亦 yì – also [[diệc: cũng, cũng là; lại; chỉ có, chỉ, chẳng qua; đã, rồi; suy cho cùng, rốt cuộc; dù cho, tuy nhiên; tích lũy, chồng chất, nhiều đời]]