万马奔腾

萬馬奔騰
wànmǎ-bēnténg
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 ten thousand horses galloping
  2. 2 a scene of surging, unstoppable momentum

Examples

Cǎoyuán shang wànmǎbēnténg, chǎngmiàn zhuàngguān.
Thousands of horses thundered across the grassland - a magnificent sight.
Gǔshēng xiǎngqǐ, fǎngfú wànmǎbēnténg.
The drums rose like the thunder of ten thousand galloping horses.
Xīn shídài wànmǎbēnténg, chōngmǎn huólì.
The new era surges forward like galloping horses, full of vitality.

Tips

history
From Ling Mengchu's (凌濛初) Ming story collection 《初刻拍案惊奇》: 空中如万马奔腾树杪似千军拥沓 - 'the sky roared like ten thousand horses galloping, the treetops like a thousand armies closing in.' Originally a sound metaphor.
usage
Captures large-scale, surging energy - sound (drums, thunder, applause), sight (horses, crowds), or abstract momentum (an era, an economy). Often in 场面 (scene) or 气势 (momentum) collocations.

Stroke Order

wàn
bēn
téng