建功立业 (jiàn gōng lì yè) — to achieve great accomplishments and establish a legacy; to make one's mark

Definition

A formal chengyu meaning to achieve great deeds and build a lasting career — used for heroic or ambitious ambition, not ordinary success.

idiom
to achieve great accomplishments and establish a legacyto make one's mark

Examples

  • 建功立业，。
    Tā nián qīng shí lì zhì jiàn gōng lì yè, zuì zhōng chéng wéi yí dài míng jiàng.
    When he was young, he resolved to achieve great accomplishments and establish a legacy, and eventually became a famous general of his generation.
  • ，建功立业。
    Zài zhè ge xīn shí dài, měi gè rén dōu yǒu jī huì jiàn gōng lì yè.
    In this new era, everyone has the opportunity to achieve great accomplishments and establish a career.
  • 建功立业，。
    Chuàng yè zhě yīng dāng yǒu jiàn gōng lì yè de bào fù, ér bú shì zhǐ qiú ān wěn.
    Entrepreneurs should have the ambition to achieve great accomplishments and establish a legacy, rather than just seeking stability.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

建功establish achievements
建jiànestablish功gōngachievement
动宾Verb + object
立业establish a legacy
立lìestablish业yèlegacy
动宾Verb + object

Building achievements and establishing a legacy together convey making a mark through great work.

Characters in this word

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

  • 廴廴yǐn
  • 聿聿yù

The shape 建 shows 廴 and 聿, but it comes from an older drawing of a hand planting a pole into a base; the lower part of 聿 is not a brush.

Open 建 →

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
力力lìstrength
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng功gōng
Same sound today

功 puts 力 (strength) beside 工, which gives the sound gōng and means labour or work.

Open 功 →

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

立 pictures a person standing on the ground.

Open 立 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 業; 业 is its simplified writing.

  • 丵丵zhuóchisel
  • 大大dàperson; big

The traditional 業 is explained as a picture of a beam from which bells and chimes hang, or as a person lifting that beam. The simplified 业 is a shorthand, not the original shape.

Open 业 →

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