📖 Meaning
This idiom satirizes someone who wants to have it all at once — official rank, wealth, and immortality — riding a crane to Yangzhou. It describes greedy, delusional ambition or wanting to combine incompatible desires into one.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom derives from a Tang-dynasty anecdote in which several travelers shared their greatest wishes: one wanted to be a high official, another wanted to become immensely wealthy, and a third wished to ride a crane and ascend to immortality. The last person declared he wished to 'ride a crane to Yangzhou,' thereby combining all three desires — office, riches, and transcendence — in a single wish. The story, recorded in collections such as Youyang Zazu, became a byword for insatiable greed and absurd ambition.
💡 Example Usage
他既想升官发财又想长生不老，简直是骑鹤上扬。
He wants promotion, wealth, and immortality all at once — it's like riding a crane to Yangzhou.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 骑鹤上扬
- Pinyin: qí hè shàng yáng
- Literal Translation: ride, crane, ascend, Yang(zhou)
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4