







路遥知马力,日久见人心 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “a long road tests a horse's strength”. Time reveals a person's true character. Literally, “A long road knows the horse's strength, and a long time reveals a person's heart”.
In Jingshashu Village, Chun'an County, Zhejiang, lived the three Xu brothers. The youngest brother died prematurely, leaving his wife, Yan Shi, and five young children. The two elder brothers then divided the family inheritance into three parts, assigning the old servant, A Ji, to Yan Shi's share.
Determined to provide for the family, A Ji started a business. In just one year, he managed to earn 2,000 taels of gold.
Yan Shi wisely used 1,500 taels to purchase fertile land and a spacious house. This truly exemplified the saying, 'A long road tests a horse's strength, and time reveals a person's true character.'
Deeply grateful for A Ji's loyalty and diligence, Yan Shi later shared a portion of the family property with him.

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Open the tool →路遥知马力,日久见人心 (lù yáo zhī mǎ lì , rì jiǔ jiàn rén xīn) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “a long road tests a horse's strength”.
路遥知马力,日久见人心 is pronounced lù yáo zhī mǎ lì , rì jiǔ jiàn rén xīn in Mandarin Chinese.
Literally, 路遥知马力,日久见人心 means “a long road knows the horse's strength, and a long time reveals a person's heart”. It is used to mean “a long road tests a horse's strength”.
路遥知马力,日久见人心 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
路途遥远才能知道马的力气大小,日子长了才能看出人心的好坏。