CHENGYU
龙飞凤舞(lóng fēi fèng wǔ)meaning, story and origin
- Register:
- literary, approving
- Source:
- 宋·苏轼《表忠观碑》
MEANING
- Literal
- dragons flying and phoenixes dancing
- Figurative meaning
- bold, flowing, graceful strokes (of calligraphy)
ORIGIN STORY
Su Shi wrote of the mountains around Lin'an: "The dragons fly and the phoenixes dance, gathering at Lin'an." From praising terrain, the phrase settled on the swirling beauty of great calligraphy.
NATURAL EQUIVALENT
“flourishing strokes”
EXAMPLES
他的字龙飞凤舞，非常潇洒。Tā de zì lóng fēi fèng wǔ, fēicháng xiāosǎ.HSK6
His calligraphy flies like dragons and dances like phoenixes — dashing and free.
这幅书法龙飞凤舞，是名家手笔。Zhè fú shūfǎ lóng fēi fèng wǔ, shì míngjiā shǒubǐ.HSK6
This piece, all flying dragons and dancing phoenixes, is a master's work.
COMMON MISTAKE
Watch out: Today it describes calligraphy or writing; about handwriting it can hint it is hard to read.
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
Tap a character to explore it
TRUST & SOURCES
- Reviewed by
- AI-assisted editorial review
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-15
- CC-CEDICT 2026-01-01