









大旱望云霓 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to eagerly yearn for relief or a solution in a desperate and difficult situation, much like people suffering from a severe drought long for rain clouds”. Literally, “To look towards rain clouds during a great drought”.
Towards the end of the Xia Dynasty, King Jie was a tyrannical and debauched ruler. His heavy taxes made life unbearable for the common people. When his minister, Guan Longfeng, advised him to change his ways, King Jie had him executed, arrogantly declaring, "I possess the people just as the sky possesses the sun. I will only perish when the sun perishes."
Meanwhile, the Shang Tang tribe in the lower reaches of the Yellow River rapidly rose to power by appointing wise officials and focusing on production.
After eleven expeditions, Shang Tang conquered areas like Ge, Wei, Gu, and Kunwu, finally overthrowing the Xia Dynasty.
When Shang Tang's troops marched eastward, the western tribes complained, "Why didn't they come to save us first?" When his troops advanced southward, the northern tribes grumbled, "Why didn't they come here first?" The people eagerly anticipated liberation, just as those suffering from a long drought desperately hoped for rain.

Picture and word Bingo for your class
Open the tool →
Turn a Chinese character or sentence into a GIF or MP4
Open the tool →
Choose character parts and animate their colors, together or in stroke order
Open the tool →
Create PNGs with pinyin, highlight character parts or remove strokes
Open the tool →大旱望云霓 (dà hàn wàng yún ní) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to eagerly yearn for relief or a solution in a desperate and difficult situation, much like people suffering from a severe drought long for rain clouds”.
大旱望云霓 is pronounced dà hàn wàng yún ní in Mandarin Chinese.
Literally, 大旱望云霓 means “to look towards rain clouds during a great drought”. It is used to mean “to eagerly yearn for relief or a solution in a desperate and difficult situation, much like people suffering from a severe drought long for rain clouds”.
大旱望云霓 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
云霓:下雨的征兆。好象大旱的时候盼望寸水一样。比喻渴望解除困境。