Chinese idioms from the Dao De Jing
千里之行，始于足下 (qiān lǐ zhī xíng, shǐ yú zú xià)
Word for word from chapter 64
千里之行，始于足下, “a journey of a thousand miles starts beneath your feet”, comes from chapter 64 of the Dao De Jing and means that great things begin with small steps.
Character by character
| 千 | qiān | thousand |
|---|---|---|
| 里 | lǐ | mile (a li) |
| 之 | zhī | of, 's (linking particle) |
| 行 | xíng | to walk, to move |
| 始 | shǐ | the beginning |
| 于 | yú | to, at |
| 足 | zú | foot, feet |
| 下 | xià | low, below |
| 千里之行，始于足下 | Every great undertaking begins with a first small step, and is achieved little by little. | |
Where it comes from
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千里之行，始于足下。
a journey of a thousand miles starts beneath your feet.
How the meaning moved
The line closes three images in chapter 64: “A tree as wide as your arms can reach grows from a tiny shoot; a tower of nine stories rises from a heap of earth; a journey of a thousand miles starts beneath your feet.” Just before them the chapter says to act early: “Deal with things before they exist; put them in order before disorder comes.” Later it warns that “People at their work often spoil it when it is almost done.”
In the chapter the point is that big things grow from small ones, so they are easiest to handle while still small. Today the line is used mostly as encouragement to start: any long effort begins with one step. In English it is known as “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”; the Chinese 足下 says “beneath the feet”, where you stand now.
Using it today
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千里之行，始于足下，学中文也要从每天记几个字开始。
qiān lǐ zhī xíng, shǐ yú zú xià, xué zhōng wén yě yào cóng měi tiān jì jǐ gè zì kāi shǐ.
A journey of a thousand miles starts beneath your feet: learning Chinese, too, begins with a few characters a day.
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计划再大，也得先把第一件小事做好，千里之行，始于足下嘛。
jì huà zài dà, yě děi xiān bǎ dì yī jiàn xiǎo shì zuò hǎo, qiān lǐ zhī xíng, shǐ yú zú xià ma.
However big the plan, you first have to do the first small thing well: a journey of a thousand miles starts beneath your feet.