大漠孤烟直

大漠孤煙直

dà mò gū yān zhí

quotation

Meanings

1 over the great desert, a lone column of smoke rises straight
2 iconic image of the frontier landscape
3 a single plume against vast emptiness

Characters

Examples

站在戈壁滩上，他想起那句“大漠孤烟直”。

Zhàn zài gēbìtān shàng, tā xiǎngqǐ nà jù " dàmògūyānzhí ".

Standing on the gobi flats, he thought of the line 'over the great desert, a single plume of smoke rises straight.'

大漠孤烟直，长河落日圆，正是王维笔下的边塞气象。

Dàmògūyānzhí, chánghéluòrìyuán, zhèngshì Wángwéi bǐxià de biān sài qìxiàng.

'A lone plume rising over the great desert; the sun round above the long river' — just the frontier atmosphere Wang Wei captured.

Tips

history

From Wang Wei's (王维, Tang dynasty) 《使至塞上》 ('Mission to the Frontier'): 大漠孤烟直，长河落日圆 — 'over the great desert a lone column of smoke rises straight; along the long river the setting sun is round.' Written in 737 on his commission to the northwestern border; long considered a pinnacle of frontier poetry.

usage

Almost always cited alongside its twin 长河落日圆. 孤烟 traditionally refers to the beacon smoke raised at a frontier garrison — a single signal fire against the empty desert.

Stroke Order

大 dà

漠 mò

孤 gū

烟 yān

直 zhí