风吹草低见牛羊

風吹草低見牛羊
fēng chuī cǎo dī xiàn niú yáng
quotation

Meanings

  1. 1 when the wind bends the grass, cattle and sheep appear
  2. 2 evokes the vastness of the northern grasslands
  3. 3 famous closing line of the ancient 'Chile Song'

Examples

HSK 3
Tā xiě de yóujì ràngwǒ xiǎngqǐ le fēngchuīcǎodīxiànniúyáng de jǐngsè.
His travel essay brought to mind the scene of grass bending in the wind, cattle appearing.
HSK 7-9
Dào le Nèiménggǔ dà cǎoyuán, cái zhēnzhèng tǐhuì dào " fēngchuīcǎodīxiànniúyáng " de yìjìng.
Only on the Inner Mongolian grasslands do you truly feel the image of 'wind bending grass to reveal herds.'

Tips

history
The closing line of the Northern-Dynasties folk song 敕勒歌 (Song of Chile), which paints the vast steppe: a sky like a felt tent covering all directions, the heavens deep blue, the wilds boundless - and when the wind bends the grass low, the cattle and sheep appear. A classic herders' song of the 鲜卑 people.
usage
Here is read xiàn (a loan for , to appear), not jiàn - a common classical phonetic-loan usage.

Stroke Order

fēng
chuī
cǎo
jiàn
niú
yáng