Give up halfway 半途而废

The Chinese idiom 半途而废 (ban4 tu2 er2 fei4) literally means give up before the job is done.

It comes from about a story about a man called Yue Yangzi (乐羊子) who lived in the State of Yue during the Warring States Period (475-221BC).

One day on his travels, Yue Yangzi happened upon a piece of gold lying in the middle of the road. He picked it up and took it home to give to his wife. His wife was not pleased by this present. In fact, she scolded Yue Yangzi for his lack of morals:

A virtuous man does not drink the thief's water nor does he take food out of the mouths of the poor. Yet, you have picked up another man's lost valuables and then tried to claim them as your own. How can you live with yourself?

Yue Yangzi was extremely ashamed and he set off with his tail between his legs to put the gold back wher he had found it. This sorry episode clearly highlighted to Yue Yangzi that he was seriously lacking in knowledge and wisdom. Eventually (with some prodding from his wife), he decided to leave his family and begin a long journey to seek out scholars who could help him become a better man. A year went by and then, out of the blue, Yue Yangzi returned home. Needless to say, his wife was very surprised:

Why have you returned? You have barely spent one year studying with the scholars.

Yue Yangzi somewhat sheepishly replied that he had come back because he was missing his wife and family so much. His wife was not impressed. She took a pair of scissors and went to the loom at which she had been working. Pointing at the half done brocade on the loom, she sententiously proclaimed:

I have spent many hours weaving this brocade strand by strand from the finest silk. Yet, it is nothing until I weave the final strand. If I were to cut the silk now, all my previous hard work would be wasted. And so it is with your studies. You can only acquire great knowledge through hard work and diligence. Can't you see that to stop studying now would be the same as cutting the brocade on the loom?

Yue Yangzi was moved by his wife's words of wisdom. He again left home and resumed his journey seeking enlightenment.

Several years later Yue Yangzi again returned home. However, this time he was a learned man (and his wife rejoiced to see him!)

For some time, I thought that the English idiom throw in the towel had the same meaning as this Chinese idiom. However, I have now changed my tune. The English idiom comes from boxing, wher a fighter concedes defeat by throwing the towel used to wipe his face into the ring. It envisages a situation wher the fighter cannot win no matter how well he fights - the result is beyond his control as the other fighter is just too good. The Chinese idiom also contemplates a type of failure, but it is due to a lack of self-discipline rather than factors beyond one's control.