龙门

龍門
Lóngmén
proper noun #63,103

Meanings

  1. 1 Dragon Gate, the gorge on the Yellow River where, in legend, a carp that leaps the rapids turns into a dragon
  2. 2 Longmen, gorge south of Luoyang, site of the Longmen Grottoes

Examples

HSK 4
Lóngmén lí Luòyáng shìqū zhǐyǒu shíjǐ gōnglǐ.
Longmen is only a dozen or so kilometres from downtown Luoyang.
HSK 7-9
Chuánshuō lǐyú tiàoguò Lóngmén jiù huì biànchéng lóng.
Legend says a carp that leaps over the Dragon Gate turns into a dragon.

Tips

culture
鲤鱼跳龙门 'the carp leaps the Dragon Gate' stands for a sudden rise in life, once passing the imperial exams, now getting into a top university. To 登龙门, 'climb the Dragon Gate', was to win the favour of a famous patron.
history
The legendary gate is placed at a gorge of the Yellow River between Shanxi and Shaanxi, also called 禹门口 because Yu the Great was said to have cut it. The Longmen near Luoyang is another place, where the Yi River runs between two hills whose cliffs hold the Buddhist caves of the 龙门石窟.

In Pop Culture

新龙门客栈 Xīn Lóngmén kèzhàn
New Dragon Gate Inn
1992 wuxia film produced by Tsui Hark, a showdown at a desert inn with Brigitte Lin, Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung Ka-fai.
龙门飞甲 Lóngmén fēijiǎ
Flying Swords of Dragon Gate
Tsui Hark's 2011 3D wuxia film starring Jet Li, set at the same desert inn.

Stroke Order

龙 lóng
门 mén