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气吞万里如虎

氣吞萬里如虎
qì tūn wàn lǐ rú hǔ
quotation

Meanings

  1. 1 with a spirit to swallow ten thousand li, like a tiger
  2. 2 (fig.) of heroic, sweeping martial momentum
  3. 3 (lit.) spirit swallow ten-thousand-li like tiger

Examples

当年刘裕北伐气吞万里如虎，一度收复长安。
Dāngnián Liú Yù běi fá qìtūn wànlǐ rúhǔ, yīdù shōufù Cháng ān.
In his day Liu Yu's northern campaign was 'a spirit swallowing ten thousand li, like a tiger' — he once recovered Chang'an.
新产品上市的气势，简直气吞万里如虎。
Xīn chǎnpǐn shàngshì de qìshì, jiǎnzhí qìtūn wànlǐ rúhǔ.
The new product launched with such force — truly 'a tiger swallowing ten thousand li.'

Tips

history
From 辛弃疾《永遇乐·京口北固亭怀古》(Xin Qiji, Yongyu Le: At Beigu Pavilion in Jingkou, Recalling Antiquity, 1205, Southern Song). Referring to 刘裕 (Liu Yu, founder of Liu Song, r. 420–422) who launched great northern campaigns from Jingkou: 想当年，金戈铁马，气吞万里如虎 (I think of those days — gold halberds and iron horses, a spirit that swallowed ten thousand li, like a tiger). Xin, a failed irredentist general-poet, is lamenting that the Southern Song has no Liu Yu to retake the lost north.
usage
Paired with 金戈铁马 ('gold halberds and iron horses' — also now a set idiom for martial glory). Xin Qiji's line has become the standard rhetorical flourish for any sweeping campaign — military, political, or commercial.

Stroke Order

气 qì
吞 tūn
万 wàn
里 lǐ
如 rú
虎 hǔ