苦尽甘来 (kǔ jìn gān lái)

Character breakdown

• 苦 (kǔ) · 8 strokes

  Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 古 represents the sound.

• 尽 (jǐn) · 6 strokes

  Simplified form of 盡. Depicts a hand (又) using a brush to scrub dishes (皿) clean after one is finished eating. The simplified character 尽 was derived from the cursive form of 盡.

• 甘 (Gān) · 5 strokes

  Pictograph of something sweet inside the mouth (口).

• 来 (lái) · 7 strokes

  Simplified form of 來. Pictograph of a stalk of wheat. The current meaning "come" is a phonetic loan. The original meaning "wheat" is now written as 麥.

Usage

经过多年努力，他终于苦尽甘来。

bitterness finishes, sweetness begins (idiom); the hard times are over, the good times just beginning

jīng guò duō nián nǔ lì ， tā zhōng yú kǔ jìn gān lái 。