📖 Meaning
The mythical luan bird flies and the phoenix soars upward. This idiom is a metaphor for a flourishing and successful official career, suggesting one rises rapidly and gloriously in government service. It evokes the image of noble, auspicious birds ascending gracefully through the sky.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom draws on classical Chinese mythology, where the luan (鸾) and the phoenix (凤) are both auspicious mythical birds associated with nobility, virtue, and good fortune. The imagery of these sacred birds soaring upward was a well-established literary trope used to symbolize a person of talent achieving prominence and rising through the ranks of officialdom. While no single definitive source text is attributed to this exact four-character phrase, it follows a long tradition in classical Chinese writing of employing phoenix imagery to denote career success, prosperity, and upward social mobility.
💡 Example Usage
他少年得志，鸾飞凤翥，不出几年便官至高位。
He achieved success young, soaring like the luan and phoenix, and within a few years rose to high office.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 鸾飞凤翥
- Pinyin: luán fēi fèng zhù
- Literal Translation: luan bird, fly, phoenix, soar upward
- Category: Success
- Characters: 4