夸父逐日

Pronunciation: kuā fù zhú rì Literal meaning: Kuafu chases the sun

Origin & Usage

The Classic of Mountains and Seas tells of the giant Kuafu (夸父), who set himself to race (逐) the sun (日). He caught up with it at the place where it sets, was seized by thirst, drank the Yellow River and the Wei dry, set off north for the great lakes and died on the road. His staff, thrown down, became a forest of peach trees. Chinese readers have argued for two thousand years about whether the story admires him or not, and the phrase carries both readings — overreach, and the grandeur of it.

Examples

English: "He spent his life on a proof nobody expected anyone to finish"

Chinese: 他把一生都投在一个没人指望能完成的证明上