借东风

借東風

jièdōngfēng

phrase

Meanings

1 to borrow the east wind
2 to ride on favorable conditions or someone else's momentum

Characters

Examples

HSK 7-9

我们要借东风，趁着政策利好扩大业务。

Wǒmen yào jiè dōngfēng, chènzhe zhèngcè lìhǎo kuòdà yèwù.

We should ride the east wind and expand the business while policies are favorable.

HSK 7-9

这家小厂借东风搭上了新能源的快车。

Zhè jiā xiǎo chǎng jiè dōngfēng dā shàng le xīnnéngyuán de kuàichē.

This small factory rode the east wind and hopped on the new-energy bandwagon.

Tips

history

From 《三国演义》 (Romance of the Three Kingdoms), chapter 49: Zhuge Liang performs a ritual to summon the southeast wind so Zhou Yu's fire ships can destroy Cao Cao's fleet at Red Cliff. The phrase now means leveraging any favorable wind - policy, trend, partner - to win.

In Pop Culture

三国演义 Sānguó yǎnyì

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

14th-century novel by Luo Guanzhong; the 借东风 scene is one of its most famous moments.

Stroke Order

借 jiè

东 dōng

风 fēng