仰天大笑出门去

仰天大笑出門去

yǎngtiāndàxiàochūménqù

phrase

Meanings

1 laughing up at the sky, out the door I go
2 (fig.) burst forth with wild, unconcealed joy / triumphant departure
3 (lit.) face-up-sky great-laugh exit-door go

Characters

sky (仰天 = face the sky)

to laugh (大笑 = laugh loudly)

door (出门 = go out the door)

Examples

听到录取通知，他仰天大笑出门去，朋友都被感染。

Tīngdào lùqǔ tōngzhī, tā yǎng tiān dà xiào chū mén qù, péngyǒu dōu bèi gǎnrǎn.

On hearing he'd been admitted, he 'laughed up at the sky and went out the door' — his friends caught the mood.

签下合同那一刻，他简直想仰天大笑出门去。

Qiān xià hétong nà yī kè, tā jiǎnzhí xiǎng yǎng tiān dà xiào chū mén qù.

The moment he signed the contract, he could almost 'laugh to the sky and stride out the door.'

Tips

history

From 李白《南陵别儿童入京》(Li Bai, 742 CE, written when Emperor Xuanzong summoned him to the capital). Closing couplet: 仰天大笑出门去，我辈岂是蓬蒿人 (Laughing up at the sky, I stride out the door — how could men like us ever be weeds of the wild?). Written at age 42 after years of obscurity, it is the quintessential Li Bai moment of swaggering self-confidence.

usage

Always cited together with the next line 我辈岂是蓬蒿人 ('we are no tumbleweeds'). Modern use: announcing a triumph you've long been waiting for.

Stroke Order

仰 yǎng

天 tiān

大 dà

笑 xiào

出 chū

门 mén

去 qù