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Ban Tu Er Fei  literally means: halfway, give up. We use it to describe those who do things by halves. But where does this idiom come from?

During the Warring States period, about 2,400 years ago, a man called Yue Yangzi lived on the south bank of the Yangtze River with his kind, considerate wife. One day, Yue Yangzi found a piece of gold on the way home and gave it to his wife. But when she saw it, and to his great surprise and disappointment, she was angry, and said to him: “An ambitious person will not drink the water of Thief Lake, for this would destroy his determination. Honest people will not accept charity, for it is humiliating. Surely, keeping something you found on the road will harm your reputation.” On hearing this, Yue Yangzi felt ashamed of himself. He returned to the place where he had found the gold and put it back, then bid farewell to his wife and went away to study and seek wisdom.

After only one year, Le Yingzi came back home. His wife asked him: “How could you come back only after one year"s study?” He answered: “After a while, I began to miss you terribly, so I am back to see you.” His wife then picked up a pair of scissors, walked over to her loom, and said: “Look at this silk cloth, of the finest silk. The silk is drawn out of the cocoons. The silk is spun into thread, and the cloth is woven, thread by thread, and, very slowly, it grows, from a thin strip, to inches, and eventually into a magnificent length of shimmering cloth. But if it is cut now, all the work put into it would be wasted. The same applies to your studies.”

Yue Yangzi was very moved by his wife’s words, and went off again to his books. This time, it was seven years before he returned home, and he had become a famous scholar. Later, the king of the State of Wei appointed him to a high position, and Yue Yangzi made many great achievements.

From what his wife said to him, people drew the idiom Ban Tu Er Fei, to stop halfway. Now it is used to describe someone who does things by halves.