望子成龙 (wàng zǐ chéng lóng) — (chengyu) to hope one's children will have a bright future; to have high expectations for one's children

Definition

A chengyu meaning 'to hope one's children will succeed / have a bright future' — a culturally loaded expression of parental ambition. Literally 'wish the child become a dragon.'

idiom
(chengyu) to hope one's children will have a bright futureto have high expectations for one's children

Examples

  • ，。
    Hěn duō zhōng guó fù mǔ dōu yǒu wàng zǐ chéng lóng de xīn tài, xī wàng hái zi kǎo shàng hǎo dà xué.
    Many Chinese parents have the mentality of hoping their children will succeed, wishing their kids will get into a good university.
  • 望子成龙，。
    wàng zǐ chéng lóng Suī rán kě yǐ lǐ jiě, dàn yě yào zhù yì bú yào gěi hái zi tài dà yā lì.
    Although hoping your children will succeed is understandable, you also need to be careful not to put too much pressure on them.
  • 望子成龙，。
    Tā fù mǔ yì zhí wàng zǐ chéng lóng, suǒ yǐ tā cóng xiǎo jiù hěn nǔ lì.
    His parents always had high hopes for him, so he worked very hard from a young age.

Origin

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 臣臣chéneye
  • 𡈼𡈼𡈼person standing on the ground

望 originally showed 臣 (eye) beside 𡈼 (person standing on the ground): a person standing up and looking off into the distance. Later 月 was added, and the 臣 part became 亡.

Open 望 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

子 is drawn as a baby with a large head, arms stretched out, and legs wrapped in a blanket.

Open 子 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
戊戊wù
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng成chéng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

成 puts 戊, a weapon, beside 丁, which gives the sound. The weapon part relates to protection, as in the old sense of city walls.

Open 成 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 龍; 龙 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 龍 originally drew a sacred creature with a large mouth and a snake-like body; the simplified 龙 is the form written here.

Open 龙 →

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