每天成语
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日积月累

*The explanations on this page are generated by AI. Please note that they may contain inaccurate information.

1. Basic Information

  • Pinyin: rì jī yuè lěi
  • English Translation: Accumulating over a long period (steady accumulation)
  • Idiom Composition: 「日」（Day or daily）＋「积」（To accumulate or gather）＋「月」（Month or monthly）＋「累」（To pile up or build up）
  • Meaning: To accumulate continuously over a long period of time, day by day and month by month. It describes how knowledge, experience, or habits gradually increase or deepen through persistence.

2. Detailed Meaning and Nuances

「日积月累」 contains the following nuances:

  • Temporal Continuity: The idiom emphasizes a continuous, uninterrupted process over many years rather than a single burst of effort.
  • Incremental Progress: It suggests that small, almost imperceptible additions eventually lead to a massive result, highlighting the power of the 'compound effect'.

3. Usage

「日积月累」 is mainly used in the following contexts:

  • Learning and Skill Acquisition: Used to explain how mastery in languages or technical skills is achieved through daily effort rather than overnight success.
    • Example:「学习外语没有捷径，只有靠日积月累才能掌握。」
      （There are no shortcuts to learning a foreign language; it can only be mastered through steady accumulation over time.)
  • Accumulation of Problems or Fatigue: Used to describe how stress, fatigue, or social issues can build up unnoticed until they become significant problems.
    • Example:「这些坏毛病是日积月累形成的，改起来不容易。」
      （These bad habits have accumulated over a long period, and they are not easy to change.)
  • The Value of Experience: Used to praise the depth of someone's expertise or wisdom gained over a long career.
    • Example:「他丰富的教学经验是三十年来日积月累的结果。」
      （His rich teaching experience is the result of thirty years of steady accumulation.)

Additional Examples:

  1. 写作能力的提高需要日积月累的练习。
    （Improving writing skills requires practice that accumulates day by day.）
  2. 财富是靠勤劳工作日积月累得来的。
    （Wealth is obtained through steady accumulation from hard work.）
  3. 如果不注意保养，身体的小毛病日积月累就会变成大病。
    （If you don't take care of yourself, minor physical ailments will pile up over time and turn into a serious illness.）
  4. 这种默契是队友之间日积月累培养出来的。
    （This unspoken understanding was developed through long-term accumulation between the teammates.）

4. Cultural Background and Notes

  • Source: This idiom can be traced back to the writings of the Song Dynasty (宋朝) Neo-Confucian scholar Zhu Xi (朱熹). In his 'Reply to Zhou Nanzhong' (答周南仲书), he wrote: 'Accumulate over days and months, and you will naturally become proficient.' It also appears in the History of Song (宋史) in the biography of Qiao Xingjian (乔行简).
  • Cultural Values: In Chinese culture, particularly within the framework of Confucian (儒家) values, 'persistence' and 'patience' are considered supreme virtues. It is often paired with the concept of 滴水穿石 (dī shuǐ chuān shí), which means 'dripping water wears through stone.'
  • Modern Usage: It is a staple expression in education, business, and health contexts to encourage people to stay the course and trust the process of gradual improvement.

5. Similar and Opposite Idioms

6. Summary

The idiom 日积月累 (rì jī yuè lěi) describes the process of things piling up over a long duration. It is most commonly used in positive contexts, such as the fruits of steady effort in learning or skill acquisition, but it can also describe the accumulation of negative things like bad habits or fatigue. It perfectly encapsulates the philosophy that consistency is the key to significant results.

Featured in the Chuken exam (Japan's Chinese test)Pre-Level 1

Idiom Essay

rì jī yuè lěi
日积月累
Accumulation Over Time
wǒ我wài pó外婆jiā家de的chú fáng厨房lǐ里，yǒu有yī kuài一块yòng用le了sān shí duō nián三十多年de的mù tou木头zhēn bǎn砧板。

In my grandmother’s kitchen, there is a wooden cutting board that has been used for more than thirty years.

zhōng jiān中间āo凹xià qù下去yī kuài一块，xiàng像yí gè一个qiǎn qiǎn浅浅de的wǎn碗。

Its middle has sunk down, like a shallow bowl.

xiǎo shí hòu小时候，wǒ我zǒng总jué de觉得qí guài奇怪：zhè me这么yìng硬de的mù tou木头，zěn me怎么huì会biàn chéng变成zhè yàng这样？

When I was little, I always found it strange: How could such hard wood become like this?

wài pó外婆shuō说，méi shén me没什么tè bié特别de的，jiù shì就是měi tiān每天qiè切cài菜、duò剁ròu肉，dāo刀zǒng总luò落zài在chà bu duō de差不多的dì fāng地方。

Grandma said, “There’s nothing special about it. I just cut vegetables and chopped meat every day, and the knife always came down in roughly the same place.”

yī tiān一天kàn bù chū看不出biàn huà变化，yí gè yuè一个月yě也kàn bù chū看不出，kě可sān shí nián三十年guò qù过去，yī dāo一刀yòu又yī dāo一刀，jìng rán竟然qiè切chū出le了zhè me这么míng xiǎn明显de的āo hén凹痕。

You cannot see a change in one day, or even in a month. But after thirty years, one cut after another had made such a clear hollow.

zhè这jiù shì就是“rì jī yuè lěi日积月累”：měi tiān每天yì diǎn diǎn一点点，kàn qǐ lái看起来wēi bù zú dào微不足道，shí jiān时间zhǎng长le了，què却néng能chǎn shēng产生míng xiǎn明显de的jié guǒ结果。

This is what “accumulation over time” means: a little bit every day may seem insignificant, but over a long period, it can produce noticeable results.

yǒu yì si有意思de的shì是，gēn跟zhēn bǎn砧板yì qǐ一起biàn huà变化de的，hái yǒu还有wài pó外婆de的shǒu yì手艺。

Interestingly, the thing that changed along with the cutting board was also Grandma’s skill.

tā她qiè切qǐ起tǔ dòu sī土豆丝lái来，yòu又xì细yòu又yún匀，sù dù速度kuài快dé得ràng让wǒ我yǎn huā眼花。

When she cuts potatoes into thin strips, they are fine and even, and she works so quickly that I can hardly follow her.

wǒ我wèn问tā她zěn me怎么liàn练chū lái出来de的，tā她xiǎng想le了xiǎng想，shuō说：“méi没liàn练guò过a啊，jiù shì就是tiān tiān天天zuò fàn做饭。”

I asked her how she had practiced. She thought for a moment and said, “I never practiced. I just cook every day.”

tā她shuō说dé得qīng sōng轻松，kě可nà那shú liàn熟练de的dāo gōng刀工，bù不zhèng shì正是rì jī yuè lěi日积月累liàn练chū lái出来de的ma吗？

She said it so casually, but wasn’t that skillful knife work precisely the result of practicing day after day?

tóng yàng同样shì是jǐ shí nián几十年，zhēn bǎn砧板bèi被qiè切chū出le了kēng坑，wài pó外婆de的dāo gōng刀工què却yuè lái yuè越来越shú liàn熟练。

Over the same several decades, the cutting board was worn into a hollow, while Grandma’s knife skills became more and more refined.

zhè ge这个chéng yǔ成语bìng并bù不zhǐ只yòng lái用来chēng zàn称赞jìn bù进步。

This idiom is not used only to praise improvement.

mó sǔn磨损kě yǐ可以rì jī yuè lěi日积月累，jīng yàn经验yě也kě yǐ可以。

Wear and tear can accumulate over time, and so can experience.

měi yī tiān每一天de的biàn huà变化dōu都hěn很xiǎo小，zuì hòu最后liú xià留下de的jié guǒ结果què却kě néng可能wán quán完全bù tóng不同。

The change each day is very small, but the final results can be completely different.

qù nián去年，wǒ我gěi给wài pó外婆mǎi买le了yī kuài一块xīn新zhēn bǎn砧板，yòu又píng平yòu又guāng huá光滑。

Last year, I bought Grandma a new cutting board. It was flat and smooth.

tā她yòng用le了yí gè一个xīng qī星期，què却yòu又bǎ把jiù旧de的ná拿le了chū lái出来。

She used it for a week, but then took the old one out again.

wǒ我wèn问tā她wèi shén me为什么，tā她shì zhe试着qiè切le了jǐ xià几下cài菜，shuō说：“xīn新de的bù不shùn shǒu顺手，dāo刀luò落xià qù下去，zǒng总jué de觉得bù不duì对。”

I asked her why. She tried cutting some vegetables a few times and said, “The new one doesn’t feel right. Whenever the knife comes down, it just feels wrong.”

wǒ我dī tóu低头kàn看zhe着nà那dào道qiǎn qiǎn浅浅de的āo hén凹痕，hū rán忽然jué de觉得，tā它hǎo xiàng好像yǐ jīng已经jì zhù记住le了wài pó外婆de的shǒu手。

I looked down at the shallow hollow and suddenly felt that it seemed to have already remembered Grandma’s hands.

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