HSK 6 · Ideas

任重道远 rènzhòngdàoyuǎn “to carry a heavy responsibility (lit. heavy load” in Chinese

Traditional 任重道遠

What 任重道远 means

  1. to carry a heavy responsibility (lit. heavy load, long road)
  2. a heavy load and a long road
  3. fig. to bear heavy responsibilities through a long struggle (cf Confucian Analects, 8.7)

How to say 任重道远

  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale任rèn4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale重zhòng4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale道dào4th tone, falling
  • Pitch chart of the third tone: dips low then rises, 2 to 1 to 4 on the five-level scale远yuǎn3rd tone, dipping

任重道远 in a sentence

  1. 保护环境任重道远。

    Bǎohù huánjìng rènzhòngdàoyuǎn.

    Protecting the environment is a long and demanding task.

    Sentence by WillyChina

  2. 我们离目标还很远，真是任重道远。

    Wǒmen lí mùbiāo hái hěn yuǎn, zhēn shì rènzhòngdàoyuǎn.

    We’re still far from our goal; there’s a long road ahead.

    Sentence by WillyChina

How 任重道远 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 任 (rèn) with each of its parts in a different colour
任rènto assign
  • 亻person form of 人 · rénMeaning part
  • 壬part of the characterSound part
The character 重 (zhòng) with each of its parts in a different colour
重zhòngheavy
  • 千thousand · qiān
  • 里village · lǐ
The character 道 (dào) with each of its parts in a different colour
道dàoroad; path 条,股)
  • 首head · shǒuSound part
  • 辶walking form of 辵 · chuòMeaning part

辶 hints at the meaning (walking); 首 (shǒu) hints at the sound. Compare it with dào.

Memory aidPicture walking 辶 with your head 首 leading the way: a road, a way.

The character 远 (yuǎn) with each of its parts in a different colour
远yuǎnfar
  • 元first · yuánSound part
  • 辶walking form of 辵 · chuòMeaning part

辶 hints at the meaning (walking); 元 (yuán) hints at the sound. Compare it with yuǎn.

How to write 任重道远

任 6 strokes · 重 9 strokes · 道 12 strokes · 远 7 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

任重道远 (rènzhòngdàoyuǎn) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 任重道远 (rènzhòngdàoyuǎn). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 任重道远

Words with 任

任务rènwu · mission责任zérèn · responsibility任何rènhé · any信任xìnrèn · to trust担任dānrèn · to hold (a post)主任zhǔrèn · director任性rènxìng · wilful任命rènmìng · to appoint上任shàngrèn · to take office任意rènyì · at will

Words with 重

重要zhòngyào · important重zhòng · heavy重视zhòngshì · to take seriously尊重zūnzhòng · to esteem严重yánzhòng · grave重点zhòngdiǎn · key point重新chóngxīn · again重复chóngfù · to repeat重大zhòngdà · major重量zhòngliàng · weight

Words with 道

知道zhīdao · to know (a fact)街道jiēdào · street道dào · (m.w. for orders味道wèidao · flavour道歉dàoqiàn · to apologise难道nándào · don’t tell me …报道bàodào · to report (news)地道dìdao · authentic道德dàodé · virtue频道píndào · frequency

Words with 远

远yuǎn · far永远yǒngyuǎn · forever遥远yáoyuǎn · distant疏远shūyuǎn · to drift apart

More words: Ideas & Concepts

缺陷quēxiàn · defect人格réngé · personality人间rénjiān · the human world人性rénxìng · human nature日新月异rìxīnyuèyì · changing rapidly荣誉róngyù · honour儒家rújiā · Confucianism弱点ruòdiǎn · weakness

FAQs

任重道远 (rènzhòngdàoyuǎn) means “to carry a heavy responsibility (lit. heavy load, long road)” or “a heavy load and a long road”. It is an HSK 6 word.
Say it rènzhòngdàoyuǎn: rèn with a 4th tone, then zhòng with a 4th tone, then dào with a 4th tone, then yuǎn with a 3rd tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 任重道远 is written 任重道遠. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type renzhongdaoyuan with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 任重道远 from the suggestions. Typing renzhongdaoyuan into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
任重道远 is an HSK 6 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences written by WillyChina. Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.