📖 Meaning
Dragons and snakes are driven off in flight, used to describe a mighty and sweeping momentum. It conveys an overwhelming, awe-inspiring force that scatters even the most powerful and elusive creatures before it.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom draws on ancient Chinese imagery in which dragons and snakes symbolize powerful, swift, and serpentine forces of nature. It appears in classical literary descriptions of imposing vigor, such as evaluations of forceful calligraphy or the advance of a formidable army. Unlike many chengyu, it has no single canonical textual source and is preserved as a poetic compound conveying overwhelming momentum.
💡 Example Usage
这支骑兵冲锋时骇龙走蛇，敌军尚未接战便已溃散。
As the cavalry charged with overwhelming force, the enemy ranks broke and scattered before a single blow was struck.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 骇龙走蛇
- Pinyin: hài lóng zǒu shé
- Literal Translation: startle dragon, flee snake
- Category: Power
- Characters: 4