金鸡独立

金雞獨立
jīnjī-dúlì
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 golden rooster stands on one leg (a martial-arts stance)
  2. 2 to stand on one leg

Examples

Tā zuò le yīgè jīnjīdúlì de dòngzuò, wěn wěn de zhàn le shímiǎo.
He struck a 'golden rooster on one leg' pose and stood steady for ten seconds.
Lǎoshī ràng háizi men jīnjīdúlì liàn pínghéng.
The teacher had the children stand on one leg to practice balance.

Tips

history
Earliest clear written source is Qing novelist Li Ruzhen's 《》, chapter 74: '金鸡独立', ('I'll do Golden Rooster Standing on One Leg — one foot needs to be slightly raised'). The phrase became fixed as both a tai-chi posture (太极拳 金鸡独立) and a general description of one-legged standing.
culture
In tai chi (太极拳) and xingyi (形意拳), 金鸡独立 is a named form where the practitioner stands on one leg with the other knee raised and hand extended — used for balance training and as a combat stance.

Stroke Order

jīn