Dae-gi-man-seong

大

큰 대

器

그릇 기

晩

늦을 만

成

이룰 성

Character by character

Meaning

A great vessel takes long to finish — those destined for greatness succeed late.

Origin

From chapter 41 of the Laozi, originally meaning the larger the vessel, the longer it takes to complete.

How it is used

Encouragement for a late bloomer, or for someone whose results have not arrived yet.

Hanja大器晩成

Simplified大器晚成

Korean reading대기만성

Pinyindà qì wǎn chéng

Frequently asked questions

Q. What does Dae-gi-man-seong mean?

大器晩成 · A great vessel takes long to finish — those destined for greatness succeed late.

Q. Where does Dae-gi-man-seong come from?

From chapter 41 of the Laozi, originally meaning the larger the vessel, the longer it takes to complete.

Q. How is Dae-gi-man-seong used?

Encouragement for a late bloomer, or for someone whose results have not arrived yet.

Idioms in the same group

有備無患 Yu-bi-mu-hwanIf you prepare in advance, there is nothing to worry about.易地思之 Yeok-ji-sa-jiThink about it after swapping places with the other person.初志一貫 Cho-ji-il-gwanCarry the resolve you started with all the way through, unchanged.名不虛傳 Myeong-bul-heo-jeonThe reputation was not passed on in vain — it lives up to the name.靑出於藍 Cheong-chul-eo-ramThe blue drawn from the indigo plant is bluer than the plant — the student surpasses the teacher.溫故知新 On-go-ji-sinStudy the old to understand the new.

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.