在洞庭一湖

zài Dòngtíng yī hú

quotation

Meanings

1 lies at Dongting, one lake
2 partial line from Fan Zhongyan's Yueyang Tower preface — the scene narrows to a single great lake

Characters

cave / hole (here part of placename)

courtyard (here part of placename)

Examples

背到"此则岳阳楼之大观也，前人之述备矣"一段，我们都记得那句"在洞庭一湖"。

Bèi dào " cǐ zé Yuèyáng lóu zhī dà guān yě, qiánrén zhī shù bèi yǐ " yī duàn, wǒmen dōu jìde nà jù " zàidòngtíngyīhú ".

When reciting that passage of Yueyang Tower, we all remember the line 'at Dongting, one lake.'

范仲淹写"在洞庭一湖"，把视线锁在那一片水上。

Fànzhòngyān xiě " zàidòngtíngyīhú ", bǎ shìxiàn suǒ zài nà yīpiàn shuǐshàng.

Fan Zhongyan writes 'at Dongting, one lake,' locking the gaze onto that one expanse of water.

Tips

history

From 《岳阳楼记》 by 范仲淹 (Fan Zhongyan, Northern Song, 1046): '予观夫巴陵胜状，在洞庭一湖。' The essay's famous line 'worry before the world worries, enjoy after the world enjoys' (先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐) comes later in the same piece.

usage

洞庭 = Dongting Lake in northern Hunan — historically China's largest freshwater lake before the Yangtze silted parts of it.

Stroke Order

在 zài

洞 dòng

庭 tíng

一 yī

湖 hú