钟山风雨起苍黄

鐘山風雨起蒼黃

Zhōngshānfēngyǔqǐcānghuáng

phrase

Meanings

1 storm winds over Zhong Mountain rise in tumult
2 a dramatic image of political upheaval — from Mao's poem on the fall of Nanjing (1949)

Characters

bell (in 钟山 Zhongshan)

yellow (together = sudden chaos)

Examples

讲到1949年南京解放，老师就引用钟山风雨起苍黄。

Jiǎng dào 1949 nián Nánjīng jiěfàng, lǎoshī jiù yǐnyòng Zhōngshān fēngyǔ qǐ cānghuáng.

Teaching about Nanjing's liberation in 1949, the teacher quoted 'storm winds rise in tumult over Zhong Mountain.'

那个年代真是钟山风雨起苍黄，天翻地覆。

Nà ge niándài zhēnshi Zhōngshān fēngyǔ qǐ cānghuáng, tiānfāndìfù.

That era was truly one of tumultuous upheaval — earth-shattering change.

Tips

history

Opening line of 毛泽东 Mao Zedong 《七律·人民解放军占领南京》 (April 1949): 钟山风雨起苍黄，百万雄师过大江 — 'storm winds over Zhong Mountain rise in chaos; a million-strong army crosses the great river.' 钟山 = Purple Mountain in Nanjing, site of Sun Yat-sen's mausoleum and symbol of the Nationalist capital.

usage

苍黄 (cānghuáng) here means 'sudden chaos, a dramatic turn' — a classical compound, not modern vocabulary. Usually quoted with the following 百万雄师过大江.

Stroke Order

钟 zhōng

山 shān

风 fēng

雨 yǔ

起 qǐ

苍 cāng

黄 huáng