聞雞起舞

See also: 闻鸡起舞

Chinese

 
hear; news; celebrated; sniff at
fowl; chicken
trad. (聞雞起舞) 起舞
simp. (闻鸡起舞) 起舞
Literally: “to get up and do sword practice upon hearing the rooster’s crow”.

Etymology

Based on a story in Zu Ti (祖逖)'s biography in the Book of Jin [648 CE], in which Zu Ti would get up with the sound of the roosters in order to practice his martial arts.

Pronunciation


Idiom

聞雞起舞

  1. to be a go-getter; to be a self-starter
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