开天辟地

開天闢地

kāitiān-pìdì

idiom HSK 7 #30,300

Meanings

1 to create the world; to open up heaven and earth
2 groundbreaking; unprecedented; epoch-making

Characters

to open; to start

to open up; to develop

Literally 'open heaven, split earth.' From the myth of 盘古 (Pángǔ), who separated the sky from the earth with an axe.

Examples

这项发明具有开天辟地的意义。

Zhè xiàng fāmíng jùyǒu kāitiān-pìdì de yìyì.

This invention has groundbreaking significance.

自从开天辟地以来，人类从未停止探索。

Zìcóng kāitiān-pìdì yǐlái, rénlèi cóngwèi tíngzhǐ tànsuǒ.

Since the dawn of time, humanity has never stopped exploring.

Tips

culture

This comes from the Pangu creation myth (盘古开天辟地). Pangu was born inside a cosmic egg, then used a giant axe to split chaos into sky and earth. His body became the mountains, rivers, and stars.

In Pop Culture

盘古 Pángǔ

Pangu

mythological giant who separated heaven and earth

Stroke Order

开 kāi

天 tiān

辟 pì

地 dì