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白手起家 (bái shǒu qǐ jiā) — (idiom) to start from scratch; to build something from nothing through one's own efforts

Definition

Literally 'start a family with bare hands': to build a business or career from nothing, with no money, help, or resources behind you. Highlights the difficulty of succeeding entirely by one's own effort.

idiom
to start from scratchto build something from nothing through one's own efforts

Examples

  • 白手起家，。
    Tā bái shǒu qǐ jiā, shí nián hòu zhōng yú chuàng lì le zì jǐ de gōng sī.
    He started from scratch, and ten years later finally established his own company.
  • 白手起家。
    Zhè wèi bái shǒu qǐ jiā de qǐ yè jiā zuì chū zhǐ yǒu yì jiān xiǎo zuō fang.
    This self-made entrepreneur initially only had a small workshop.
  • 白手起家，。
    Hěn duō nián qīng rén mèng xiǎng bái shǒu qǐ jiā, dàn zhēn zhèng zuò dào de què bù duō.
    Many young people dream of starting from scratch, but those who actually make it are few.

Origin

Characters in this word

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

白 is thought to picture either an acorn or a human head.

Open 白 →

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Open 手 →

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
走走zǒu
Sound part声符shēngfú
巳
巳sì起qǐ
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

起 is made from 走 and 巳: 走 is the part connected with walking or running, and 巳 gives the sound.

Open 起 →

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
宀宀miánroof
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢑓
𢑓𢑓家jiā
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The early drawing of 家 showed a roof 宀 over a male-pig sign 𢑓 that gave the pronunciation; the lower part later changed shape.

Open 家 →
Appears in
Idioms & Set PhrasesSuccess & Failure

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