Learning & Wisdom
讀書百遍
독서백편
dú shū bǎi biàn
Dok-seo-baek-pyeon
讀
읽을 독
書
글 서
百
일백 백
遍
두루 편
Character by character
Meaning
Read it a hundred times and the meaning reveals itself.
Origin
From the Wei records in the Three Kingdoms, where Dong Yu told his students the sense comes of itself after a hundred readings.
How it is used
Advice to someone stuck on a difficult text: read it again.
Hanja讀書百遍
Simplified读书百遍
Korean reading독서백편
Pinyindú shū bǎi biàn
Frequently asked questions
Q. What does Dok-seo-baek-pyeon mean?
讀書百遍 · Read it a hundred times and the meaning reveals itself.
Q. Where does Dok-seo-baek-pyeon come from?
From the Wei records in the Three Kingdoms, where Dong Yu told his students the sense comes of itself after a hundred readings.
Q. How is Dok-seo-baek-pyeon used?
Advice to someone stuck on a difficult text: read it again.
Idioms in the same group
刮目相對 Gwal-mok-sang-daeRub your eyes and look again — someone’s ability has grown astonishingly.敎學相長 Gyo-hak-sang-jangTeaching and learning grow each other.多多益善 Da-da-ik-seonThe more, the better.聞一知十 Mun-il-ji-sipHear one thing and know ten — exceptional quickness of mind.格物致知 Gyeong-mul-chi-jiInvestigate things to reach knowledge.學而時習 Hak-i-si-seupLearn, and practise it in due time.
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.