Chinese idiom · 成语
从容不迫
Meaning
Calm and unhurried; composed under pressure.
Character by character
从calm
容composed
不not
迫hurried
Origin and story
Philosophical dialogueThe Ministry of Education dictionary links the idea to the Autumn Floods chapter of Zhuangzi (莊子). Walking above the Hao River, Zhuangzi watches fish swimming at ease and calls that the happiness of fish. Huizi asks how someone who is not a fish could know; Zhuangzi counters by asking how Huizi, who is not Zhuangzi, could know what he knows.
The source uses 從容 for the fishes' unhurried ease, not the complete four-character idiom. Joined with 不迫, meaning not rushed or pressed, it becomes a description of composed behavior.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
投影突然坏了，她仍从容不迫地继续讲解。
The projector suddenly failed, but she calmly continued her explanation.
Composure despite pressure or interruption, not indifference to a problem.