長風破浪

Chinese

		strong winds	to break the waves; to sail in the waves
trad. (長風破浪)		長風	破浪
simp. (长风破浪)		长风	破浪

Etymology

From Book of Song by 沈約 (Shen Yue):

愨年少時，炳問其志，愨曰：「願乘長風破萬里浪。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

悫年少时，炳问其志，悫曰：“愿乘长风破万里浪。” [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Shen Yue, Book of Song, 492-493 CE

Què niánshào shí, bǐng wèn qí zhì, què yuē: “Yuàn chéng chángfēng pò wànlǐ làng.” [Pinyin]

When Zong Que was young, his uncle Zong Bing asked him his ambitions, to which he replied, "I would mount a long wind and break ten thousand lis of waves."

From The Hard Road by 李白 (Li Bai):

長風破浪會有時，直掛雲帆濟滄海。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

长风破浪会有时，直挂云帆济沧海。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: 774, 李白, 《行路難》其一

Chángfēngpòlàng huì yǒu shí, zhí guà yúnfān jì cānghǎi. [Pinyin]

I will mount a long wind some day and break the heavy waves, and set my cloudy sail straight and bridge the deep, deep sea.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): chángfēngpòlàng
(Zhuyin): ㄔㄤˊ ㄈㄥㄆㄛˋ ㄌㄤˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): coeng⁴ fung¹ po³ long⁶

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: chángfēngpòlàng
  - Zhuyin: ㄔㄤˊ ㄈㄥㄆㄛˋ ㄌㄤˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: chángfongpòlàng
  - Wade–Giles: chʻang²-fêng¹-pʻo⁴-lang⁴
  - Yale: cháng-fēng-pwò-làng
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: charngfengpohlanq
  - Palladius: чанфэнполан (čanfɛnpolan)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʰɑŋ³⁵ fɤŋ⁵⁵ pʰwɔ⁵¹⁻⁵³ lɑŋ⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: coeng⁴ fung¹ po³ long⁶
  - Yale: chèuhng fūng po lohng
  - Cantonese Pinyin: tsoeng⁴ fung¹ po³ long⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: cêng⁴ fung¹ po³ long⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ʃʰœːŋ²¹ fʊŋ⁵⁵ pʰɔː³³ lɔːŋ²²/

Idiom

長風破浪

to have great aspirations and courageously pursue them

Synonyms

乘風破浪／乘风破浪 (chéngfēngpòlàng)