📖 Meaning
Literally stirring up the seas and overturning the rivers. It is a metaphor for tremendous power, momentum, or upheaval. Used to describe something with overwhelming force or an earth-shaking commotion.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Yuan dynasty play 'Jianfu Bei' (荐福碑) by the dramatist Ma Zhiyuan, in its third act. The original line reads 'He there shakes the ridges and moves the mountains, stirs the seas and overturns the rivers, topples trees and destroys cliffs.' The vivid imagery of turbulent waters and collapsing landscapes was used to convey an awe-inspiring, irresistible force. Later writers adopted the idiom to depict battles, storms, or any event of extraordinary magnitude.
💡 Example Usage
这支军队搅海翻江，势不可挡。
This army surged forward with sea-stirring, river-overturning force, utterly unstoppable.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 搅海翻江
- Pinyin: jiǎo hǎi fān jiāng
- Literal Translation: stir, sea, overturn, river
- Category: Power
- Characters: 4