百丈竿头 — “Top of a hundred-zhang pole”
百丈竿头 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to have reached the pinnacle of achievement or spiritual cultivation, with the implication that further progress is still necessary or possible; even after reaching a very high level, one must continue to strive for improvement”. Literally, “Top of a hundred-zhang pole”.
百丈竿头 Pronunciation and Pinyin
百丈竿头 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 百丈竿头
Origin and Story of 百丈竿头
During the Song Dynasty, there was an eminent monk named Jingcen in Changsha, known as Grand Master Zhaoxian. This Grand Master had profound Buddhist scholarship and often traveled to various places to preach and lecture.
One day, Grand Master Zhaoxian was invited to lecture in the Dharma hall of a Buddhist temple. Many monks came to listen. The master spoke with great clarity and charm, deeply inspiring his audience. The Dharma hall was silent, save for the master's voice.
After Grand Master Zhaoxian finished his lecture, a monk stood up, bowed to him, and then asked several questions, requesting the master's answers. The master returned the bow and began to answer slowly. When the monk encountered something he didn't understand, he asked the master again, and so the two engaged in a warm and natural exchange of questions and answers.
The audience discovered that they were discussing the highest realm of Buddhism – the 'Ten Directions World'. To explain what the Ten Directions World truly was, Grand Master Zhaoxian presented a gatha (Buddhist verse) on the spot. A gatha is a book containing Buddhist chants. The master pointed to a passage and chanted: 'A hundred-zhang bamboo pole is not considered high; one still needs to take a step further, for only then can the Ten Directions World be truly considered the highest peak.'
Idioms Related to 百丈竿头
Synonyms of 百丈竿头
More idioms starting with 百
- bǎi百wàn万mǎi买zhái宅，，qiān千wàn万mǎi买lín邻Good neighbors are priceless
- bǎi百wàn万xióng雄bīng兵a vast and mighty army
- bǎi百wàn万xióng雄shī师a vast and mighty army
- bǎi百xià下bǎi百quán全perfectly accurate and unfailingly successful
- bǎi百xià下bǎi百zháo着unfailingly successful
- bǎi百bù不yī一cún存not one in a hundred remains
- bǎi百bù不yī一shuǎng爽always accurate and reliable
- bǎi百bù不yī一dài贷make no exceptions
- bǎi百bù不yī一yù遇extremely rare
- bǎi百bù不wèi为duō多，，yī一bù不wèi为shǎo少Excellent things are always valuable
- bǎi百bù不shī失yī一unerringly accurate
- bǎi百bù不dāng当yī一one is far superior to many others
Recommended tools
Stroke Order Animator
Turn a Chinese character or sentence into a GIF or MP4
Open the tool →
Picture Worksheets
Chinese and English fill-in vocabulary worksheets
Open the tool →
Chinese Text Image Generator
Create PNGs with pinyin, highlight character parts or remove strokes
Open the tool →
Bingo Cards
Picture and word Bingo for your class
Open the tool →Questions about 百丈竿头
What does 百丈竿头 mean?
百丈竿头 (bǎi zhàng gān tóu) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to have reached the pinnacle of achievement or spiritual cultivation, with the implication that further progress is still necessary or possible; even after reaching a very high level, one must continue to strive for improvement”.
How do you pronounce 百丈竿头?
百丈竿头 is pronounced bǎi zhàng gān tóu in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 百丈竿头 literally mean?
Literally, 百丈竿头 means “Top of a hundred-zhang pole”. It is used to mean “to have reached the pinnacle of achievement or spiritual cultivation, with the implication that further progress is still necessary or possible; even after reaching a very high level, one must continue to strive for improvement”.
Where does 百丈竿头 come from?
百丈竿头 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 百丈竿头?
佛教语，百丈高的竿子，比喻道行达到很高境界。