刻苦勉勵

각고면려 刻苦勉勵

It means enduring immense hardship and pushing oneself to the limit to achieve a goal. It represents an attitude of relentless diligence and self-encouragement despite facing severe difficulties.

Chinese Idiom 4-character idiom Learn with Music
💡 TL;DR

각고면려 (刻苦勉勵): It means enduring immense hardship and pushing oneself to the limit to achieve a goal.

1 Meaning

각고면려 (刻苦勉勵) means “It means enduring immense hardship and pushing oneself to the limit to achieve a goal. It represents an attitude of relentless diligence and self-encouragement despite facing severe difficulties.”.

Gakgomyeollyeo (刻苦勉勵) is a classic idiom meaning to strive diligently while enduring immense pain. It signifies moving toward a goal by overcoming bone-crushing hardships without ever giving up, regardless of the trials faced.

2 Examples

1

An aspiring actor who spends years in obscurity, constantly failing auditions.

Instead of giving up, they practice acting until dawn every day while working part-time jobs to make ends meet, persistently pursuing their dream.

2

A startup founder facing a crisis due to financial difficulties and continuous development failures.

They analyze the causes of failure day and night, pitch to investors despite dozens of rejections, and continuously improve their product.

3

An athlete who suffers a severe injury that threatens to end their career.

They silently endure painful rehabilitation training, putting in several times more effort than others, and miraculously return to the sport.

3 Origin

'Gakgo' (刻苦) means 'pain as if carving bone,' and 'Myeollyeo' (勉勵) means 'striving and making an effort on one's own.' The origin of this idiom traces back to the writings of Han Yu, a prominent scholar and writer of the Tang Dynasty in China. Han Yu exerted extraordinary effort in his studies and writing, emphasizing the importance of enduring excruciating pain while constantly striving for improvement. The image of a protagonist staying up all night in the dark, treating their scars as medals of honor, and pushing toward the top strongly expresses the spirit of Gakgomyeollyeo in a modern and powerful way.

4 Key Lessons

1

True achievement stems from agonizing effort and the endurance of pain and trials.

2

Facing fears and failures head-on, rather than avoiding them, builds inner strength.

3

The attitude of constantly pushing and encouraging oneself ultimately leads to success.

5 English Expression

English Vocabulary

survive

살아남다, 생존하다

"He managed to survive the harsh winter."

carve

새기다, 조각하다

"She carved her initials into the tree trunk."

bold

대담한, 용감한

"It was a bold decision to start his own business."

fade

사라지다, 희미해지다

"The music began to fade away."

🔗 Same series — watch a related Short Related

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6 Learn with Music

각고면려 track image

각고면려 Track

Carved Through the Night (刻苦勉勵)

상처와 고통, 압박과 실패를 피하지 않고 끝까지 견디며 자신을 단련해 결국 빛으로 솟아오르는 과정을 그려, 고생을 마다하지 않고 스스로를 다잡아 힘쓴다는 **각고면려(刻苦勉勵)**의 정신을 강렬하게 보여준다.

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각고면려

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