CHENGYU
五湖四海(wǔ hú sì hǎi)meaning, story and origin
- Register:
- neutral
- Source:
- 唐·吕岩《绝句》
MEANING
- Literal
- the five lakes and the four seas
- Figurative meaning
- all corners of the land; from everywhere
ORIGIN STORY
Ancient China named its great lakes and its surrounding seas. A Tang poem by Lü Yan wrote of drifting "freely across the five lakes and four seas". The phrase came to mean the whole country, every corner of it.
NATURAL EQUIVALENT
“from far and wide”
EXAMPLES
游客从五湖四海来到北京。Yóukè cóng wǔ hú sì hǎi lái dào Běijīng.HSK6
Visitors come to Beijing from the five lakes and four seas — from everywhere.
运动员来自五湖四海，为了同一个梦想。Yùndòngyuán lái zì wǔ hú sì hǎi, wèi le tóng yí ge mèngxiǎng.HSK6
The athletes come from every corner of the land, sharing one dream.
COMMON MISTAKE
Watch out: It means "from all over the country or world" — it is not a list of actual lakes and seas.
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
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TRUST & SOURCES
- Reviewed by
- AI-assisted editorial review
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-15
- CC-CEDICT 2026-01-01