(a line from a poem by the Tang poet Liu Yuxi 劉禹錫|刘禹锡[Liu2 Yu3 xi1]) one gains very little insight into one's enemy from a hundred victories, but he who breaks his arm three times will be a good doctor / (fig.) one learns more from one's failures than from one's successes
to put one's hands behind one's head, fingers interlaced / to hold one's head in one's hands (in dismay, fright etc) / to cover one's head with one's hands (for protection)
lit. to hope one's son becomes a dragon (idiom) / fig. to long for one' s child to succeed in life / to have great hopes for one's offspring / to give one's child the best education as a career investment
lit. viewing the sky with a basin on one's head / it is hard to get a clear view of the sky while carrying a platter on one's head / fig. it is hard to get on in one's career while encumbered by family obligations / one can't perform a major task while bothered by other duties
lit. only one end of the barber's pole is hot (idiom) / fig. one-sided enthusiasm / one party is interested, but the other, not so much / (Note: In former days, street barbers carried their equipment on a pole, with tools and a stool at one end and a brazier at the other.)
lit. to eat meat from one's bowl, then put down one's chopsticks and scold one's mother (idiom) / fig. to complain despite being privileged / to be ungrateful for what one has been given
to erect (a tent etc) / to prick up (one's ears) / to raise (one's eyebrows) / to stick up (one's thumb) / to turn up (one's collar) / (of a bird) to puff up (one's feathers)
to change one's tune / to modify one's previous remark / to change the way one addresses sb (as when one marries and starts to call one's husband's parents 爸爸[ba4 ba5] and 媽媽|妈妈[ma1 ma5])
one's age, according to the traditional Chinese method of reckoning (i.e. the number of Chinese calendar years in which one has lived) – In this system, a person's age at birth is one, and increases by one at the beginning of the first solar term 立春[Li4 chun1] each year, rather than on one's birthday. / contrasted with 實歲|实岁[shi2 sui4]
eat depending on the dish, cut cloth according to the body (idiom) / to fit the appetite to the dishes and the dress to the figure / to act according to actual circumstances / to live within one's means
to turn one's head / to turn around / (fig.) to return (to a previous point) / to come back (to what one was saying before) / (fig.) to look back (in time) / to reflect on the past
lit. to fly one's banner on a solitary tree (idiom) / fig. to act as a loner / to stand out / to develop one's own school / to have attitude of one's own
lit. an easy drive on a familiar path (idiom) / fig. experience makes progress easy / a task that is so familiar one can do it with one's hand tied behind one's back
lit. to fly one's banner on a solitary tree (idiom) / fig. to act as a loner / to stand out / to develop one's own school / to have attitude of one's own
lit. to fly one's banner on a solitary tree (idiom) / fig. to act as a loner / to stand out / to develop one's own school / to have attitude of one's own
lit. seeing others go hunting, one is excited by memories of the thrill of the hunt (idiom) / fig. seeing others do what one loves to do, one is inspired to try it again
lit. when one beats a dog, one must answer to its master (idiom) / fig. before punishing sb, one should consider how that would affect others associated with him
lit. when covered with lice, one doesn't feel the itching anymore, and when up to one's ears in debt, one ceases to worry about it (saying) / fig. to be past worrying (about sth)
lit. after climbing a hundred feet up a pole, one should go even further (idiom) / fig. even if one has achieved a measure of success, one should strive to do even better
only have ... / there is only ... / (used in combination with 才[cai2]) it is only if one ... (that one can ...) (Example: 只有通過治療才能痊愈|只有通过治疗才能痊愈[zhi3 you3 tong1 guo4 zhi4 liao2 cai2 neng2 quan2 yu4] "the only way to cure it is with therapy") / it is only ... (who ...) (Example: 只有男性才有此需要[zhi3 you3 nan2 xing4 cai2 you3 ci3 xu1 yao4] "only men would have such a requirement") / (used to indicate that one has no alternative) one can only (do a certain thing) (Example: 只有屈服[zhi3 you3 qu1 fu2] "the only thing you can do is give in")
to belong to / to be affiliated to / to fall under the jurisdiction of / a place where one feels that one belongs / one's final destination (where one need look no further)
(of alcohol, love etc) to go to one’s head / (of an idea, a song etc) to get into one's head / to capture one's attention / (old) (of a girl on her wedding day) to start wearing one's hair in a bun (rather than a plait)
Confucian moral injunctions of fidelity / piety to one's parents, respect to one's older brother, loyalty to one's monarch, faith to one's male friends
four Confucian injunctions 孝悌忠信 (for men), namely: piety 孝 to one's parents, respect 悌 to one's older brother, loyalty 忠 to one's monarch, faith 信 to one's male friends / the four Confucian virtues for women of morality 德[de2], physical charm 容, propriety in speech 言 and efficiency in needlework 功
(idiom) as one climbs higher on the path of righteousness, one faces ever greater challenges from evil / no sooner does one overcome one obstacle than another arises
to bend to a task and spare no effort unto one's dying day (idiom) / striving to the utmost one's whole life / with every breath in one's body, unto one's dying day
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