A Hundred Shots, a Hundred Hits

Characters:

Pronunciation: bai(3) fa(1) bai(3) zhong(4)
Explanation: To describe a good bowman or a shooter, or a metaphor to say someone who can correctly guess future outcomes

Tone: Positive

The Story: In the Spring and Autumn period, there was a man in Chu named Yang Youji. Yang was good at shooting with his bow and arrow. One day, he stood 100 meters away from a willow tree. He aimed at a leaf on the tree, and shot it. Then he shot the leaf next to it. He shot many leaves, and not one arrow missed. People around him were all shocked and amazed by his great accuracy and precision. Soon everybody in the land knew of this great feat and they rightfully called it "a hundred shots, a hundred hits."

Usage Example (Pinyin): Xian(4) zai(4) hen(3) shao(3) you(3) ren(2) you (3) bai(3) fa(1) bai(3) zhong(4) de ji(4) neng(2) le.

Usage Example (English translation): Now few people have the 'hundred shots and hundred hits' skill.

Note: The spoken Chinese Mandarin language has 4 spoken tones. We have attempted to re-create those above where after each syllable we tell you (1), (2), (3), or (4) as they correspond to each of the 4 tones. We encourage you to complement your Xianzai.com Chinese Idioms newsletter with a good offline study program.