守株待兔 shǒu zhū dài tù
Guard a stump, wait for a rabbit — windfalls don't repeat themselves.
The short answer
守株待兔 means to wait passively for a lucky break to repeat itself. It mocks anyone who abandons effort because one lucky accident once paid off.
The story
A farmer in the state of Song was working his field when a rabbit burst out of the grass, slammed into a tree stump, broke its neck, and died on the spot. Dinner, for free. From that day the farmer set down his hoe and stood guard by the stump, waiting for the next rabbit.
No rabbit ever came again. The field went to weeds, and the whole state laughed at him. The idiom comes from the philosopher Han Fei, who told it about rulers trying to govern modern people with the dusty rules of ancient kings — but the farmer has outlived the political argument.
What it means today
守株待兔 is the Chinese for “waiting for lightning to strike twice”. Lottery-ticket strategies, waiting for a recruiter to call back after one lucky interview, keeping a failing product alive because it sold well once — all of it is stump-watching.
The idiom's implied lesson is the Protestant-work-ethic one: luck is not a business model. Parents deploy it on children hoping to repeat one good exam with no studying.
How to use it
It works as predicate or adverb: 守株待兔是等不来机会的, “stump-waiting will not summon opportunities”. In conversation it rarely needs explanation — a Chinese listener supplies the rabbit instantly.
In use
2 examples机会要自己争取，守株待兔是没有用的。
Opportunities have to be fought for — waiting by the stump is useless.
上一次靠运气赢了，这一次可不能守株待兔。
Last time we won on luck; this time we can't just wait for the rabbit.
The characters
Explore individuallyIndividual character meanings do not always explain the meaning of the whole word.
This guide is original Dengdeng editorial content, offered under CC BY-SA 4.0. The linked dictionary entries adapt CC-CEDICT under the same license.