八千里路云和月

八千里路雲和月

bāqiānlǐlùyúnhéyuè

phrase

Meanings

1 eight thousand li of road under cloud and moon
2 long years of hard travel and struggle
3 Yue Fei's image of a soldier's lifetime campaign

Characters

li (Chinese mile)

Examples

回首创业路，真可谓八千里路云和月。

Huíshǒu chuàngyè lù, zhēn kě wèi bā qiān lǐ lù yún hé yuè.

Looking back on the years of building the business, one can truly say 'eight thousand li under cloud and moon.'

岳飞一句“八千里路云和月”道尽了戎马生涯。

Yuè Fēi yī jù "bā qiān lǐ lù yún hé yuè" dào jìn le róngmǎ shēngyá.

Yue Fei's line 'eight thousand li under cloud and moon' captured an entire military life.

Tips

history

From Yue Fei's (岳飞, Southern Song) 《满江红·怒发冲冠》: 三十功名尘与土，八千里路云和月 — 'Thirty years of glory are dust and earth; eight thousand li of road beneath the clouds and moon.' Yue Fei's lyric, written during his campaigns against the Jin, became the most recited patriotic poem in the Chinese canon.

usage

Almost always cited alongside 三十功名尘与土. 云和月 ('cloud and moon') signals the passage of nights and days on campaign — time spent marching rather than at home.

Stroke Order

八 bā

千 qiān

里 lǐ

路 lù

云 yún

和 hé

月 yuè