借东风

借東風

jièdōngfēng

phrase

Meanings

1 to borrow the east wind (idiom)
2 to ride on favorable conditions or someone else's momentum

Characters

Examples

我们要借东风，趁着政策利好扩大业务。

Wǒmen yào jiè dōngfēng, chènzhe zhèngcè lìhǎo kuòdà yèwù.

We should ride the east wind and expand the business while policies are favorable.

这家小厂借东风搭上了新能源的快车。

Zhè jiā xiǎo chǎng jiè dōngfēng dā shàng le xīnnéngyuán de kuàichē.

This small factory rode the east wind and hopped on the new-energy bandwagon.

Tips

history

From 《三国演义》 (Romance of the Three Kingdoms), chapter 49: Zhuge Liang performs a ritual to summon the southeast wind so Zhou Yu's fire ships can destroy Cao Cao's fleet at Red Cliff. The phrase now means leveraging any favorable wind — policy, trend, partner — to win.

In Pop Culture

三国演义 Sānguó Yǎnyì

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

14th-century novel by Luo Guanzhong; the 借东风 scene is one of its most famous moments.

Stroke Order

借 jiè

东 dōng

风 fēng