• 宝刀不老 (Bǎo dāo bù lǎo)

    Basic Info Figurative Definition It describes someone who, though advanced in years, has lost none of their skill, ability, or prowess – a veteran whose “blade” is still as sharp as ever. It is high praise for enduring competence in old age, especially in physical or professional skills. It can describe: It is closely…

  • 饱学之士 (Bǎo xué zhī shì)

    Basic Info Figurative Definition It describes a person of deep and extensive learning – someone whose mind is full to the brim with knowledge, well-read, cultured, and intellectually accomplished. It is a respectful term for a true scholar: not someone with superficial knowledge, but someone who has genuinely absorbed and mastered their field. It…

  • 饱食终日 (Bǎo shí zhōng rì)

    Basic Info It is almost always used with its companion phrase “无所用心” (wú suǒ yòng xīn – “applying one’s mind to nothing”), forming the full saying: “饱食终日,无所用心。”(“To eat one’s fill all day and apply one’s mind to nothing.”) Figurative Definition It describes someone who spends the whole day eating and doing nothing meaningful –…

  • 饱经风霜 (Bǎo jīng fēng shuāng)

    Basic Info Figurative Definition It describes someone or something that has endured long periods of hardship, suffering, and difficult conditions – “wind and frost” being a classical metaphor for life’s trials. Such a person is usually weathered, toughened, and marked by experience, often with visible signs of age and struggle. It can describe: A…

  • 饱经沧桑 (Bǎo jīng cāng sāng)

    Basic Info Figurative Definition It describes someone or something that has lived through many great changes, upheavals, and transformations in the world – a person, place, or thing marked by long experience of life’s rise and fall. Such a person is usually seasoned, weathered, and wise, carrying the visible marks of history. It can…

  • 包罗万象 (Bāo luó wàn xiàng)

    Basic Info Figurative Definition It describes something that is all-encompassing, richly varied, and comprehensive – containing every kind of thing, idea, or phenomenon within it. It is used to praise works, collections, exhibitions, systems, or ideas that are encyclopedic in scope and leave little out. A useful distinction: “包罗万象” emphasizes richness and variety of…