Pronunciation: Yúgōng yí shān
Meaning: "Yugong moves the mountains"
Literal translation of the characters: foolish – old man (a name) – to move – mountain
Background: The proverb comes from the story of Yugong (literally, "foolish old man"), who set out to move two mountains that constantly forced the people of his village to take long detours. He began digging away at the mountains together with his sons, and neighbors gradually joined in to help. When a wise man told him the task was impossible, Yugong replied that even after his own death, his descendants could carry on the work, so that the mountains would eventually be leveled regardless.
The god of the mountains, worried that Yugong might actually succeed, appealed to the Emperor of Heaven. The Emperor was so moved by the old man's sheer determination that he ordered the mountains moved away entirely.
English equivalent: "Where there's a will, there's a way."
