白手起家

Pronunciation: bái shǒu qǐ jiā Literal meaning: Empty hands start a household

Origin & Usage

Starting (起) a household (家) with bare (白) hands (手). 白 is empty here rather than the colour — the same 白 as in 白跑一趟, a trip made for nothing — so what is claimed concerns what was in the hands at the beginning, which is nothing at all. 家 is a household or an estate rather than a company, and that older sense is worth keeping: what gets built is a family's standing, not a business. Entrepreneurs claim it now, and it remains the highest-status origin story available.

Examples

English: "He built his business empire from nothing through hard work."

Chinese: 他白手起家，通过努力建立了自己的商业帝国。