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凤毛麟角

鳳毛麟角
fèngmáolínjiǎo
idiom #66,921

Meanings

  1. 1 phoenix feathers and unicorn horns — rare and precious
  2. 2 few and far between
  3. 3 extremely rare (of talented people or things)

Examples

在这个领域，真正的专家凤毛麟角。
Zài zhège lǐngyù, zhēnzhèng de zhuānjiā fèngmáolínjiǎo.
In this field, true experts are few and far between.
能考进这所大学的学生凤毛麟角。
Néng kǎo jìn zhè suǒ dàxué de xuéshēng fèngmáolínjiǎo.
Students who can get into this university are rare as phoenix feathers.
像他这样德才兼备的人凤毛麟角。
Xiàng tā zhèyàng détcáijiānbèi de rén fèngmáolínjiǎo.
People like him, with both virtue and talent, are extremely rare.

Tips

history
The two halves come from different sources: 凤毛 from 《世说新语·容止》 (Liu Yiqing, Southern Dynasties), praising a son as having his father's 'phoenix feathers'; 麟角 from 《北史·文苑传序》: 学者如牛毛，成者如麟角 — 'students are as many as ox hairs, but those who succeed as rare as unicorn horns.'
memory
Phoenixes and qilin are both mythical beasts — literally 'phoenix feathers + qilin horns', the rarest parts of the rarest creatures.

Stroke Order

凤 fèng
毛 máo
麟 lín
角 jiǎo