鹤唳风声 — “Crane's cry, wind's sound”
鹤唳风声 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to be extremely nervous and suspicious, often imagining danger where there is none; to be in such a state of panic that one becomes overly suspicious of every sound and shadow”. Literally, “Crane's cry, wind's sound”.
鹤唳风声 Pronunciation and Pinyin
鹤唳风声 Character Breakdown
Stroke OrderExample Sentence with 鹤唳风声
Origin and Story of 鹤唳风声
During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Fu Jian, the king of Former Qin, harbored ambitions to conquer the Eastern Jin. Xie An, the prime minister of Eastern Jin, appointed Xie Shi as the grand commander, dispatching his forces in three routes to jointly attack the Qin army.
When Fu Jian ascended Shouchang City, he observed the orderly and formidable formation of the Jin army, which filled him with apprehension.
The Jin forces then employed a clever strategy to encircle and utterly defeat Fu Jian's Qin army.
During their chaotic retreat, the routed Qin soldiers, hearing the rustling of the wind or the cry of a crane, mistakenly thought every sound was that of pursuing enemy troops.
Idioms Related to 鹤唳风声
Synonyms of 鹤唳风声
More idioms starting with 鹤
- hè鹤chéng乘xuān轩promote undeserving individuals to high positions
- hè鹤yì亦bài败dào道Even the perfect follow natural laws
- hè鹤shì势láng螂xíng形slender and graceful figure
- hè鹤fà发sōng松zī姿old but hale and hearty
- hè鹤fà发tóng童yán颜elderly with youthful looks
- hè鹤fà发jī鸡pí皮white hair and wrinkled skin
- hè鹤diào吊táo陶mǔ母Cranes mourn Tao Kan's mother
- hè鹤lì唳huá华tíng亭Nostalgia for the past, regret over life's turns
- hè鹤lì唳yuán猿shēng声desolate cries of cranes and monkeys
- hè鹤kùn困jī鸡qún群talented person trapped among mediocrity
- hè鹤chǔ处jī鸡qún群a crane among chickens
- hè鹤zǐ子méi梅qī妻reclusive scholar's elegant solitude
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Open the tool →Questions about 鹤唳风声
What does 鹤唳风声 mean?
鹤唳风声 (hè lì fēng shēng) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to be extremely nervous and suspicious, often imagining danger where there is none; to be in such a state of panic that one becomes overly suspicious of every sound and shadow”.
How do you pronounce 鹤唳风声?
鹤唳风声 is pronounced hè lì fēng shēng in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 鹤唳风声 literally mean?
Literally, 鹤唳风声 means “Crane's cry, wind's sound”. It is used to mean “to be extremely nervous and suspicious, often imagining danger where there is none; to be in such a state of panic that one becomes overly suspicious of every sound and shadow”.
Where does 鹤唳风声 come from?
鹤唳风声 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 鹤唳风声?
唳：鸟鸣。听到风声和鹤叫声，都疑心是追兵。形容人在惊慌时疑神疑鬼。