一身两役 — “To undertake two tasks or roles simultaneously”

一身两役 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to undertake two tasks or roles simultaneously”. To play a dual role. Literally, “One person, two roles”.

Frequency

一身两役 Pronunciation and Pinyin

一身两役 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
一	yī	1	one, a, single, whole
身	shēn	7	body, person, life, self
两	liǎng	7	two, a couple of
役	yì	7	to serve or be employed

Example Sentence with 一身两役

他白天上班，晚上兼职学习，真是一身两役。

He works during the day and studies part-time at night, truly performing two roles simultaneously.

Origin and Story of 一身两役

During the Southern Dynasties, a minister of the Liang Dynasty, Zhang Xu, observed his son Zhang Chong constantly associating with idle young men. Zhang Chong would carry a hawk on his left hand and lead a dog with his right.

Zhang Xu admonished his son, asking, "Performing two tasks at once (一身两役), isn't that exhausting and unproductive?"

After this reprimand, Zhang Chong surprisingly began to study diligently, greatly improving his scholarship. He then took the imperial examinations and achieved official status. Later, he rose to the positions of Sanqi Changshi (Palace Attendant) and Guozijian Jijiu (Libationer of the Imperial Academy), which was also considered a highly successful outcome of performing two significant roles simultaneously.