Chil-jeon-pal-gi

七

일곱 칠

顚

넘어질 전

八

여덟 팔

起

일어날 기

Character by character

Meaning

Fall seven times, rise eight.

Origin

Widely used in Korea and identical in form to the Japanese phrase nana-korobi ya-oki.

How it is used

The go-to encouragement for someone who keeps trying after repeated failure.

Hanja七顚八起

Simplified七颠八起

Korean reading칠전팔기

Pinyinqī diān bā qǐ

Frequently asked questions

Q. What does Chil-jeon-pal-gi mean?

七顚八起 · Fall seven times, rise eight.

Q. Where does Chil-jeon-pal-gi come from?

Widely used in Korea and identical in form to the Japanese phrase nana-korobi ya-oki.

Q. How is Chil-jeon-pal-gi used?

The go-to encouragement for someone who keeps trying after 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.百折不屈 Baek-jeol-bul-gulBroken a hundred times and still unbent.

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.