📖 Meaning
Continuous ranges of high, steep mountains stretching one after another. It describes a rugged landscape of towering peaks and ridges that seem to go on endlessly.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the 'Xuanhe Painting Catalogue' (《宣和画谱》), a Song Dynasty imperial record of painters and their works. The entry on Zhao Lingrang (赵令穰), a noble painter of the Northern Song, notes that he was sent to tour the regions of Jiang, Zhe, Jing, and Xiang so that the layered mountains, steep ridges, and beautiful streams and rivers would enrich his brushwork. The text remarks that with such firsthand experience, his painting was no inferior to the masters of the Jin and Song dynasties.
💡 Example Usage
探险队翻越重山峻岭，历经三天才走出这片山区。
The expedition team crossed the layered mountains and steep ridges, taking three days to finally make it out of the range.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 重山峻岭
- Pinyin: chóng shān jùn lǐng
- Literal Translation: layered, mountains, steep, ridges
- Category: Distance
- Characters: 4