📖 Meaning
High, steep mountains and rugged ridges. The idiom describes terrain that is both towering and dangerously precipitous. It is often used to depict grand but forbidding natural landscapes.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase comes from the Ming dynasty novel 水浒传 (Water Margin), attributed to 施耐庵, in its 86th chapter. In the cited scene, the characters look out over their surroundings and find themselves hemmed in on all sides by towering mountains, with sheer cliffs to left and right. The narrator observes only 高山峻岭 and no path by which to climb up. The line was later quoted in 明·冯梦龙's 醒世恒言 to describe the banks of the Wu Gorge in the Three Gorges.
💡 Example Usage
车队在高山峻岭之间穿行了三天三夜，终于走出了大山。
The convoy threaded its way among high, steep mountains for three days and three nights before finally emerging from the range.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 高山峻岭
- Pinyin: gāo shān jùn lǐng
- Literal Translation: high, mountain, steep, ridge
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4