The New Dictionary.
Search dictionary
Chinese/Dictionary entry

千里之行，始于足下

qiān lǐ zhī xíng , shǐ yú zú xiàdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. a thousand mile journey begins with the first step / fig. big accomplishments come from an accumulation of little achievements made one by one
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-88b021288d80d132. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

千里之行，始於足下 千里之行，始于足下 [qian1 li3 zhi1 xing2 , shi3 yu2 zu2 xia4] /lit. a thousand mile journey begins with the first step/fig. big accomplishments come from an accumulation of little achievements made one by one/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 千里之行，始於足下

  • 千
    qiān

    thousand / used in 鞦韆|秋千[qiū qiān]

  • 里
    lǐ

    lining / interior / inside / internal / also written 裏|里[lǐ] / li, ancient measure of length, approx. 500 m / neighborhood / ancient administrative unit of 25 families / (Tw) borough, administrative unit between the township 鎮|镇[zhèn] and neighborhood 鄰|邻[lín] levels

    Lǐ

    surname Li

  • 之
    zhī

    (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de]) / him / her / it

  • 行
    háng

    (bound form) row / line / (bound form) line of business / trade / profession / (bound form) commercial firm / (bound form) to rank (first, second etc) among one's siblings (by age) / (in data tables) row / (Tw) column / classifier for rows or lines

    héng

    used in 道行[dào héng]

    xíng

    (bound form) to walk / to go / to travel / (literary) trip / journey / visit / (bound form) temporary / makeshift / (bound form) current / in circulation / (bound form) to do / to perform / capable / competent / all right / OK! / will do / behavior / conduct (Taiwan pr. [xìng]) / (literary) about to / soon

  • 始
    shǐ

    to begin / to start / then / only then

  • 于
    yú

    to go / to take / sentence-final interrogative particle / (of time or place) in / at / on / (indicating any indirect relation) to / toward / vis-à-vis / with regard to / for / (indicating a source) from / out of / (used in comparison) than / (used in the passive voice) by

    Yú

    surname Yu

  • 足
    jù

    excessive

    zú

    (bound form) foot / leg / sufficient / ample / as much as / fully

  • 下
    xià

    down / downwards / below / lower / later / next (week etc) / second (of two parts) / to decline / to go down / to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc) / measure word to show the frequency of an action

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.