Baek-jeol-bul-gul

百

일백 백

折

꺾을 절

不

아닐 불

屈

굽을 굴

Character by character

Meaning

Broken a hundred times and still unbent.

Origin

Traced to Han-dynasty texts; in Chinese the more common form is bǎi zhé bù náo.

How it is used

Said of someone whose resolve survives repeated failure.

Hanja百折不屈

Simplified百折不屈

Korean reading백절불굴

Pinyinbǎi zhé bù qū

Frequently asked questions

Q. What does Baek-jeol-bul-gul mean?

百折不屈 · Broken a hundred times and still unbent.

Q. Where does Baek-jeol-bul-gul come from?

Traced to Han-dynasty texts; in Chinese the more common form is bǎi zhé bù náo.

Q. How is Baek-jeol-bul-gul used?

Said of someone whose resolve survives repeated failure.

Idioms in the same group

愚公移山 U-gong-i-sanOld Man Yu moves the mountain — persistence accomplishes anything.磨斧作針 Ma-bu-jak-chimGrind an axe into a needle — dogged effort achieves even the impossible.螢雪之功 Hyeong-seol-ji-gongMerit earned reading by fireflies and snow-light — study achieved in hardship.切齒腐心 Jeol-chi-bu-simGrinding your teeth and letting your heart rot — nursing a grievance.臥薪嘗膽 Wa-sin-sang-damSleep on firewood and taste gall — endure any hardship to settle a score.七顚八起 Chil-jeon-pal-giFall seven times, rise eight.

The idioms used in Korea mix phrases from the Chinese classics with ones coined in Korea. Where an expression is not used in China, the entry says so.