一唱雄鸡天下白

一唱雄雞天下白

yīchàngxióngjītiānxiàbái

phrase

Meanings

1 one crow of the rooster, and all under heaven turns bright
2 (fig.) the long night of oppression / stagnation ends and a new day begins — especially used for the founding of the PRC
3 (lit.) one — crow — male-chicken — under-heaven — white (bright)

Characters

chicken (雄鸡 = rooster)

under (天下 = the world)

白

bái

white / bright

Examples

新中国成立，真可谓一唱雄鸡天下白。

Xīn Zhōngguó chénglì, zhēn kěwèi yī chàng xióngjī tiānxià bái.

The founding of the New China — truly 'one crow of the rooster and all under heaven turned bright.'

他形容改革开放时说，一唱雄鸡天下白。

Tā xíngróng gǎigé kāifàng shí shuō, yī chàng xióngjī tiānxià bái.

Describing Reform and Opening, he said: 'one crow of the rooster and all under heaven turned bright.'

Tips

history

From 毛泽东《浣溪沙·和柳亚子先生》 (Mao Zedong, 1950), a ci written in response to 柳亚子 at the first National Day banquet: 长夜难明赤县天，百年魔怪舞翩跹，人民五亿不团圆。一唱雄鸡天下白，万方乐奏有于阗，诗人兴会更无前 (The long night was hard to lighten over the Red County sky; a century of demons danced on; five hundred million people unreunited. One crow of the rooster and all under heaven turned bright; music resounds from every land, even Khotan; the poets' joy has never been greater). The 'rooster' = the new PRC ending the long dark night of old China. Mao adapted the image from 李贺《致酒行》: 雄鸡一声天下白.

usage

The original Tang form is 雄鸡一声天下白 (Li He). Mao inverted it to 一唱雄鸡天下白. Used almost exclusively in PRC-era rhetoric about historical turning points; treat with full awareness of its political register.

Stroke Order

一 yī

唱 chàng

雄 xióng

鸡 jī

天 tiān

下 xià

白 bái