难于上青天

難於上青天

nányúshàngqīngtiān

idiom

Meanings

1 harder than climbing to the blue sky
2 extraordinarily difficult / all but impossible

Characters

than (classical comparative)

to ascend / climb

Examples

HSK 4

说服他改变主意简直难于上青天。

Shuōfú tā gǎibiàn zhǔyì jiǎnzhí nányúshàngqīngtiān.

Persuading him to change his mind is practically impossible.

HSK 7-9

在北京买房对年轻人来说难于上青天。

Zài Běijīng mǎifáng duì niánqīngrén láishuō nányúshàngqīngtiān.

For young people, buying a home in Beijing is harder than climbing to the sky.

Tips

history

From Li Bai's Tang poem 《蜀道难》 (Hard is the Road to Shu): 蜀道之难，难于上青天 - 'The road to Shu is hard, harder than climbing to the blue sky.' The poem opens and closes with this line, describing the mountain path into Sichuan. Today it's a stock hyperbole for any extreme difficulty.

usage

Commonly preceded by 比 X or used with 简直 for emphasis. Sometimes shortened to just 上青天 in writing. Register: slightly literary but widely understood.

Stroke Order

难 nán

于 yú

上 shàng

青 qīng

天 tiān