天旋地转

天旋地轉

tiānxuán-dìzhuàn

idiom

Meanings

1 the sky spins and the earth turns
2 to feel dizzy; a tumultuous upheaval

Characters

to revolve; to spin

to turn; to rotate

Examples

HSK 3

他一站起来就觉得天旋地转。

Tā yī zhànqǐlái jiù juéde tiānxuán-dìzhuàn.

The moment he stood up he felt the room spinning.

HSK 3

听到这个消息，她只觉得天旋地转。

Tīngdào zhège xiāoxi, tā zhǐ juéde tiānxuán-dìzhuàn.

On hearing the news, she felt as if the world was spinning around her.

HSK 4

这场战争让整个国家天旋地转。

Zhè chǎng zhànzhēng ràng zhěnggè guójiā tiānxuán-dìzhuàn.

This war turned the whole country upside down.

Tips

history

From 白居易's Tang-dynasty poem 《长恨歌》: 天旋地转回龙驭 - 'when heaven and earth turned and the emperor's chariot returned.' Originally describing the tumultuous restoration of Tang power after the An Lushan rebellion; later generalized to vertigo and upheaval.

usage

Two live meanings: (1) physical dizziness - 觉得 / 感到天旋地转; (2) world-turned-upside-down shock at news or events. Context disambiguates.

Stroke Order

天 tiān

旋 xuán

地 dì

转 zhuǎn