畏天知命 — “To revere Heaven and accept one's destiny”
畏天知命 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to revere Heaven and accept one's destiny”. To act in accordance with the will of Heaven and the arrangements of fate. Literally, “Fear Heaven, know fate”.
畏天知命 Pronunciation and Pinyin
畏天知命 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 畏天知命
Origin and Story of 畏天知命
Towards the end of the Xin Dynasty, Feng Yi pledged allegiance to Liu Xiu. He was exceedingly humble, earning him the title 'General of the Great Tree'.
Later, as General of Mengjin, he led his army in a standoff against Li Yi, the King of Wuyang, who commanded 300,000 troops.
Feng Yi wrote a letter to Li Yi, hoping he would 'revere Heaven and know fate,' encouraging him to abandon Emperor Gengshi and defect to Liu Xiu, thus turning danger into safety.
Li Yi subsequently abandoned his resistance.
Liu Xiu praised Feng Yi, saying his single letter was worth a hundred thousand soldiers.
Idioms Related to 畏天知命
Synonyms of 畏天知命
More idioms starting with 畏
- wèi畏zhī之rú如hǔ虎fear him like a tiger
- wèi畏dāo刀bì避jiàn箭flinch from danger
- wèi畏kǒu口shèn慎shì事be cautious in speech and prudent in action
- wèi畏tiān天xù恤mín民revere heaven and show compassion for people
- wèi畏tiān天mǐn悯rén人revere Heaven and pity humanity
- wèi畏tiān天ài爱mín民revere heaven, cherish people
- wèi畏tóu头wèi畏wěi尾overly cautious and hesitant
- wèi畏wēi威huái怀dé德fear power, cherish virtue
- wèi畏qiáng强qī欺ruò弱fear the strong, bully the weak
- wèi畏yǐng影è恶jì迹foolishly fearing one's own shadow and traces
- wèi畏yǐng影ér而zǒu走unnecessarily alarmed by imaginary fears
- wèi畏yǐng影bì避jì迹fear imaginary troubles and avoid things unnecessarily
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Open the tool →Questions about 畏天知命
What does 畏天知命 mean?
畏天知命 (wèi tiān zhī mìng) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to revere Heaven and accept one's destiny”.
How do you pronounce 畏天知命?
畏天知命 is pronounced wèi tiān zhī mìng in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 畏天知命 literally mean?
Literally, 畏天知命 means “Fear Heaven, know fate”. It is used to mean “to revere Heaven and accept one's destiny”.
Where does 畏天知命 come from?
畏天知命 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 畏天知命?
畏：敬服；天：上天；命：命运。指顺从天意，按照命运的安排行事