To bear hardships willingly and contentedly; to find joy or sweetness in suffering or difficult circumstances.
Era:
Ancient
Frequency:
Antonym:
Story:
The idiom "Gan Zhi Ru Yi" originates from the Southern Song Dynasty. During the late Song Dynasty, a patriotic general named Wen Tianxiang led his army to resist the invading Yuan forces. Unfortunately, he was captured and imprisoned in a harsh dungeon by the Yuan army. Zhang Hongfan, a Song defector, tried to persuade him to surrender, but Wen Tianxiang firmly refused.
He endured three years in the narrow and cramped cell, never yielding. During his imprisonment, he wrote the famous "Song of Righteousness" (Zhengqi Ge), which contains the line, "鼎钁甘如饴，求之不可得," meaning that being boiled in a cauldron would feel as sweet as malt sugar, but even such a swift death was not granted to him.
Ultimately, he was executed under the order of Kublai Khan, the Yuan emperor. His unwavering spirit in the face of immense suffering became the embodiment of "Gan Zhi Ru Yi," signifying one's willingness to endure extreme hardship as if it were sweet.