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長風破浪

简长风破浪 · 繁長風破浪

Mandarin · pinyin cháng fēng pò làng

lit. to ride the wind and crest the waves
to be ambitious and unafraid (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

長: zhǎng · long; length; excel in; leader; Kangxi radical 168
風: fēng · wind; air; manners, atmosphere; Kangxi radical 182
破: pò · break, ruin, destroy; rout
浪: làng · wave; wasteful, reckless
长: zhǎng · long; length; excel in; leader
风: fēng · wind; air; manners, atmosphere

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–1–4–4 · chang2 feng1 po4 lang4

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

長風破浪 · find source passages ↗ · 长风破浪 · find source passages ↗

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to have great aspirations and courageously pursue them

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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