Chinese Idiom: 一事无成 (Yi Shi Wu Cheng)
English Translation: Accomplishing Nothing
pīn yīn: yī shì wú chéng
Idiom Meaning: This idiom describes someone who fails to achieve anything; it means that no task or endeavor is successfully completed.
Historical Source: Records of the Three Kingdoms, “Biography of Zhao Yun.”
Idiom Story: In the Tang Dynasty, there was a low-ranking official who, due to his lack of success in his career, often found himself frustrated and dissatisfied. Seeking to escape his woes, he decided to take a break and travel for leisure.
One day, he visited Jingguo Temple. Exhausted from his travels, he decided to spend the night there. That night, he had a vivid dream in which he found himself beneath a rock ledge, encountering an old monk. Before the monk stood a very small incense burner, with delicate threads of sandalwood smoke rising from it. The old monk spoke to the official, saying, “The smoke from this small incense burner is the remainder of the incense you offered in a past life. You have now lived through three lifetimes. In your first life, you were a pacification officer in Jian’nan during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. In your second life, you were a scribe in Western Shu during the reign of Emperor Xianzong. In your current life, you are this provincial official.”
Hearing the old monk’s words, the official felt a sudden awakening, recalling the three lifetimes he had lived as a mediocre official, achieving nothing of significance. Realizing the futility of his continuous struggle in the bureaucratic world, he decided he no longer wished to drift aimlessly in the sea of officialdom and felt a profound understanding of the transient nature of life.
From this story, the idiom “accomplishing nothing” (一事无成) was derived, illustrating the state of achieving nothing despite repeated efforts.
