凤毛麟角

鳳毛麟角
fèngmáo-línjiǎo
idiom #66,921

Meanings

  1. 1 phoenix feathers and unicorn horns - rare and precious
  2. 2 few and far between
  3. 3 extremely rare (of talented people or things)

Examples

HSK 3
Néng kǎo jìn zhè suǒ dàxué de xuéshēng fèngmáolínjiǎo.
Students who can get into this university are rare as phoenix feathers.
HSK 7-9
Zài zhège lǐngyù, zhēnzhèng de zhuānjiā fèngmáolínjiǎo.
In this field, true experts are few and far between.
HSK 7-9
Xiàng tā zhèyàng décáijiānbèi de rén fèngmáolínjiǎo.
People like him, with both virtue and talent, are extremely rare.

Tips

history
The two halves come from different sources: 凤毛 from 《世说新语·容止》 (Liu Yiqing, Southern Dynasties), praising a son as having his father's 'phoenix feathers'; 麟角 from 《北史·文苑传序》: 学者如牛毛,成者如麟角 - 'students are as many as ox hairs, but those who succeed as rare as unicorn horns.'
memory
Phoenixes and qilin are both mythical beasts - literally 'phoenix feathers + qilin horns', the rarest parts of the rarest creatures.

Stroke Order

fèng
máo
lín
jiǎo