📖 Meaning
To move mountains and create seas. A metaphor for humanity's great power and ambition to conquer nature. It describes extraordinary determination and the capacity to accomplish monumental feats.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from a poem by Zhu De (朱德), a founding leader of the People's Republic of China, titled 'Matching the Rhyme of Director He Xiangning's "Rural" Poem, No. 2.' The line reads: 'With the resolve to move mountains and create seas reaching the sky, millions of people surge forward.' It reflects the spirit of mass mobilization and the collective will to transform the natural world during China's era of large-scale construction and land reform.
💡 Example Usage
面对这片荒滩，村民们以移山造海的气魄苦干三年，终于建成了万亩良田。
Facing this barren stretch of land, the villagers worked with a mountain-moving, sea-creating spirit for three years and finally built thousands of acres of fertile farmland.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 移山造海
- Pinyin: yí shān zào hǎi
- Literal Translation: move mountains, create seas
- Category: Determination
- Characters: 4