Chinese Idiom: 一日千里 (Yi Ri Qian Li)
English Translation: A Thousand Miles a Day
pīn yīn: yī rì qiān lǐ
Idiom Meaning: Describes someone’s rapid progress or the swift development of something.
Historical Source: “Xiangshan Yelu” (湘山野录) and “Xunzi: Self-Cultivation.”
Idiom Story: During the Tang and Song dynasties, China produced eight great literary figures known as the “Eight Great Prose Masters of Tang and Song.” One of these was the distinguished Northern Song writer Ouyang Xiu.
Ouyang Xiu lost his father at the age of four and grew up in poverty. His family could not afford to send him to school or buy paper and pens. His mother had to use reeds to make makeshift pens and teach him to write on the ground. Despite the rudimentary conditions, she demanded strict precision in his writing and literary skills. This early education laid a solid foundation for Ouyang Xiu and instilled in him a disciplined and diligent attitude toward learning.
Even after achieving fame, Ouyang Xiu maintained his rigorous approach. He would paste drafts of his essays on the wall and revise them repeatedly from dawn to dusk before finalizing them. For instance, when writing the “Painting the Silk Hall Record,” he revised the manuscript after it was sent to a friend for review, realizing that the opening lines could be improved for clarity and rhythm. He quickly sent a rider to retrieve and correct the draft.
One year, when the governor of Luoyang, Qian Wei-yan, built a relay station in the city, he invited three prominent writers—Xie Xishen, Yin Shilu, and the rising star Ouyang Xiu—to each write an essay about it. Each writer showcased their skills, and their essays were compared. Xie Xishen’s essay was 700 words, Ouyang Xiu’s over 500 words, while Yin Shilu’s was the shortest at around 380 words, yet it was concise and vivid.
Ouyang Xiu, acknowledging that Yin Shilu’s writing was superior, sought his advice that evening. Yin Shilu suggested that while Ouyang Xiu’s writing was good, it lacked rigorous structure and concise language. Ouyang Xiu took this feedback seriously, revised his work meticulously, and presented a new version. Impressed, Yin Shilu remarked that Ouyang Xiu had progressed astonishingly fast, akin to traveling a thousand miles in a single day.
Thus, the idiom “A Thousand Miles a Day” was derived from this story, symbolizing remarkable and rapid progress.
