十年树木,百年树人 shí nián shù mù , bǎi nián shù rén

education takes time; raise people with care

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. It takes ten years to nurture a tree, but a hundred years to train a man (idiom). A good education program takes a long time to develop.

Characters

Character Meaning
ten; 10
year; grain; harvest (old)
tree; to set up; to cultivate
tree; wood; wooden
hundred; numerous; all kinds of
year; grain; harvest (old)
tree; to set up; to cultivate
person; people; man