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收拾旧山河

收拾舊山河
shōushijiùshānhé
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 to reclaim the lost homeland
  2. 2 (fig.) to restore a nation or cause to its former glory after disaster
  3. 3 (lit.) to gather up / tidy the old mountains and rivers

Examples

他立志要收拾旧山河，重振家族事业。
Tā lìzhì yào shōushi jiù shānhé, chóngzhèn jiāzú shìyè.
He resolved to 'reclaim the old mountains and rivers' and revive the family business.
球队新任教练誓言收拾旧山河，带队重返顶级联赛。
Qiúduì xīnrèn jiàoliàn shìyán shōushi jiù shānhé, dàiduì chóngfǎn dǐngjí liánsài.
The team's new coach vowed to 'reclaim the old mountains and rivers' and lead them back to the top league.

Tips

history
From 岳飞《满江红·怒发冲冠》(Yue Fei, Southern Song, c. 12th c.): 三十功名尘与土，八千里路云和月……待从头、收拾旧山河，朝天阙 (Thirty years of merit — dust and earth; eight thousand li of road — cloud and moon... Wait till we, starting over, reclaim the old mountains and rivers, and present ourselves at the imperial gate). Written amid the Jin invasion and the loss of the north, it remains the most iconic patriotic lyric in Chinese literature.
usage
拾 here reads shi (neutral tone) not shí — 收拾 is always shōushi. The image is rhetorically huge: 山河 stands for the whole country. Quote for any comeback or national-revival context.

Stroke Order

收 shōu
拾 shí
旧 jiù
山 shān
河 hé