擂鼓鸣金

擂鼓鳴金

léigǔmíngjīn

idiom

Meanings

1 to beat the drum and sound the gong
2 to order an advance or retreat
3 to rally troops or call them back

Characters

gong (here); metal

Examples

古代打仗，擂鼓鸣金都有讲究。

Gǔdài dǎzhàng, léigǔmíngjīn dōu yǒu jiǎngjiu.

In ancient warfare, drumming for advance and gonging for retreat each followed strict rules.

他擂鼓鸣金，号召大家行动起来。

Tā léigǔmíngjīn, hàozhào dàjiā xíngdòng qǐlái.

He sounded the call to action, rallying everyone to move.

Tips

history

Earliest attested in the Yuan-era zaju play 《午时牌》. In ancient Chinese armies, drums (鼓) signaled advance and the bronze gong (金 = 锣) signaled retreat — so the four characters together capture the whole battlefield communication system.

memory

擂 (beat) 鼓 (drum) 鸣 (sound) 金 (gong/metal) — beat-drum, sound-gong. Two parallel verb-object pairs, easy to remember as an action diptych.

Stroke Order

擂 léi

鼓 gǔ

鸣 míng

金 jīn