重任在肩 (zhòng rèn zài jiān) — a heavy responsibility rests on one's shoulders

Definition

A four-character idiom meaning a heavy duty or mission falls on your shoulders — used to emphasize serious responsibility the speaker feels personally accountable for. Common in formal speeches and writing, often paired with a决心 to do something.

idiom
a heavy responsibility rests on one's shoulders

Examples

  • ，重任在肩，。
    Zuò wéi xīn lǐng dǎo, tā gǎn dào zhòng rèn zài jiān, bù gǎn xiè dài.
    As the new leader, he felt a heavy responsibility on his shoulders and dared not slack off.
  • ，重任在肩，。
    Zài zhè ge xiàng mù zhōng, wǒ men zhòng rèn zài jiān, bì xū quán lì yǐ fù.
    In this project, we have a heavy responsibility on our shoulders and must give it our all.
  • ，重任在肩，。
    Miàn duì tiǎo zhàn, tā shēn zhī zhòng rèn zài jiān, suǒ yǐ gé wài nǔ lì.
    Facing the challenge, he deeply knew the heavy responsibility on his shoulders, so he worked especially hard.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
主谓zhǔwèiSubject + predicate

A small sentence frozen into a word: something, and what it does or is.

重任heavy responsibility
重zhòngheavy任rènresponsibility
偏正Modifier + head
在肩on shoulder
在zàion肩jiānshoulder
动宾Verb + object

Heavy responsibility on shoulders expresses a great duty being carried.

Characters in this word

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
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
東
東dōng重zhòng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

重 developed from a picture of a man carrying a bag, with 人 for the man and 東 for the bag; a later ground element was folded into the form.

Open 重 →

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
亻Written in full as人rénperson
Sound part声符shēngfú
壬
壬rén任rèn
Same sound today

任 pairs 亻, a person, with 壬, which may picture a shoulder pole turned sideways.

Open 任 →

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

The early form of 在 used 才 for its sound; a second sound part 士 was added later, and that 士 became the 土 seen in 在.

Open 在 →

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

肩 combines a shoulder shape with a flesh part to show a shoulder.

Open 肩 →

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