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望长城内外

望長城內外
wàngchángchéngnèiwài
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 gazing beyond and within the Great Wall
  2. 2 (fig.) the expansive vista opening Mao's famous snow poem
  3. 3 (lit.) gaze Great-Wall inside outside

Examples

北国风光，千里冰封，万里雪飘。望长城内外，惟余莽莽。
Běiguó fēngguāng, qiān lǐ bīng fēng, wàn lǐ xuě piāo. Wàng Chángchéng nèiwài, wéi yú mǎngmǎng.
'Scenery of the north — a thousand li of frozen ice, ten thousand li of drifting snow. Gazing beyond and within the Great Wall, nothing but vast whiteness.'
站在八达岭上，真能体会望长城内外的气势。
Zhàn zài Bādálǐng shàng, zhēn néng tǐhuì wàng Chángchéng nèiwài de qìshì.
Standing atop Badaling, you really feel the sweep of 'gazing beyond and within the Great Wall.'

Tips

history
From 毛泽东《沁园春·雪》(Mao Zedong, February 1936), composed in northern Shaanxi after the Long March: 北国风光，千里冰封，万里雪飘。望长城内外，惟余莽莽；大河上下，顿失滔滔 (The north's scenery — a thousand li frozen, ten thousand li of drifting snow. Looking along the Great Wall, within and without, only vast whiteness; the great river up and down, its roar suddenly gone). The cí, first published in Chongqing 1945, shook Republican literary circles with its imperial scale.
usage
内外 = 'inside and outside' (the Wall marks the Han/Mongol divide). Often paired in quotation with 惟余莽莽. Note the verb 望 here = 'to gaze into the distance,' not 'to hope.'

Stroke Order

望 wàng
长 cháng
城 chéng
内 nèi
外 wài