p8nda
p8nda BETA
Home Dictionary Discord

万里长江横渡

萬里長江橫渡
wànlǐchángjiānghéngdù
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 to swim straight across the ten-thousand-li Yangtze
  2. 2 (fig.) a feat of bold, open-water crossing; bravado against the great river
  3. 3 (lit.) ten-thousand-li — Long River — crosswise — cross

Examples

每年武汉都举办万里长江横渡纪念活动。
Měinián Wǔhàn dōu jǔbàn wànlǐ Chángjiāng héngdù jìniàn huódòng.
Every year Wuhan holds a commemorative 'Crossing the Ten-Thousand-Li Yangtze' swim.
毛泽东曾在诗中写下万里长江横渡，极目楚天舒。
Máo Zédōng céng zài shī zhōng xiě xià wànlǐ Chángjiāng héngdù, jí mù Chǔ tiān shū.
Mao Zedong once wrote in verse: 'across the ten-thousand-li Yangtze I swim, and gaze out at the open sky of Chu.'

Tips

history
From 毛泽东《水调歌头·游泳》 (Mao Zedong, 'Swimming,' 1956), composed after Mao swam across the Yangtze at Wuhan: 才饮长沙水，又食武昌鱼。万里长江横渡，极目楚天舒 (Just now drank Changsha's water, now I eat Wuchang's fish. Across the ten-thousand-li Yangtze I swim, and the sky over Chu stretches to the eye). The poem became one of the PRC-era most-quoted modern ci, and Mao's Yangtze swim became an annual political ritual.
usage
横渡 = 'cross crosswise,' i.e. swim from one bank to the other (vs. 顺流 'go with the flow'). Often cited as a slogan of fearlessness in the face of a grand obstacle.

Stroke Order

万 wàn
里 lǐ
长 cháng
江 jiāng
横 héng
渡 dù