Chinese idiom · 成语
大器晚成
Meaning
A great vessel takes time to form; late bloomers achieve greatness.
Character by character
Origin and story
Philosophical expressionThe received text of Laozi (老子), chapter 41, places this phrase among paradoxes about the Dao: the greatest square has no corners, the greatest sound is barely heard, and the greatest image has no form. The familiar reading of the great vessel being completed late later supported the idea that exceptional people may take longer to develop.
Early manuscript versions preserve different characters at the position read as 晚, and their interpretation is debated. Thus the modern late-bloomer meaning should not be presented as the only possible reading of the ancient philosophical passage. The idiom nevertheless has a long established use in encouraging or describing people whose achievements arrive later.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
他五十岁才出版第一部获奖小说，真是大器晚成。
He published his first award-winning novel at fifty—a true late bloomer.
Praises substantial achievement arriving later, not lateness by itself.