Standing on the summit looking out, the sight of ten thousand mountains all crimson stirred the heart.
Tips
history
From Mao Zedong's (毛泽东, 1925) 《沁园春·长沙》: 看万山红遍，层林尽染；漫江碧透，百舸争流 — 'Behold: ten thousand mountains all crimson, every tier of forest dyed; the river runs emerald green, a hundred boats vying in the current.' The young Mao revisiting Changsha's Orange Island writes autumn into a manifesto for revolutionary upheaval.
usage
Almost always quoted alongside 层林尽染 ('every tier of forest is dyed'). The couplet has become a stock line in modern Chinese describing literal autumn scenery as well as any sweeping, all-encompassing change.
