People & Bonds
孤掌難鳴
고장난명
gū zhǎng nán míng
Go-jang-nan-myeong
孤
외로울 고
掌
손바닥 장
難
어려울 난
鳴
울 명
Character by character
Meaning
One palm makes no sound — nothing gets done alone.
Origin
The Han Feizi observes that a single hand, however fast it moves, produces no clap.
How it is used
Used to say a task needs a partner, or that a quarrel takes two.
Hanja孤掌難鳴
Simplified孤掌难鸣
Korean reading고장난명
Pinyingū zhǎng nán míng
Frequently asked questions
Q. What does Go-jang-nan-myeong mean?
孤掌難鳴 · One palm makes no sound — nothing gets done alone.
Q. Where does Go-jang-nan-myeong come from?
The Han Feizi observes that a single hand, however fast it moves, produces no clap.
Q. How is Go-jang-nan-myeong used?
Used to say a task needs a partner, or that a quarrel takes two.
Idioms in the same group
管鮑之交 Gwan-po-ji-gyoThe friendship of Guan Zhong and Bao Shuya — friends who truly know each other.竹馬故友 Juk-ma-go-uAn old friend from bamboo-horse days — someone you grew up with.百年偕老 Baeng-nyeon-hae-roGrowing old together for a hundred years.同苦同樂 Dong-go-dong-nakSharing the hardship and the joy alike.人之常情 In-ji-sang-jeongThe ordinary feeling any human being would have.類類相從 Yu-yu-sang-jongLike follows like — similar people gather together.
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.