一唱雄鸡天下白

一唱雄雞天下白
yí chàng xióngjī tiānxià bái
quotation

Meanings

  1. 1 one crow of the rooster, and all under heaven turns bright
  2. 2 the long night of oppression ends and a new day begins, especially used for the founding of the PRC

Examples

HSK 5
Tā xíngróng gǎigé kāifàng shí shuō, yíchàngxióngjītiānxiàbái.
Describing Reform and Opening, he said: 'one crow of the rooster and all under heaven turned bright.'
HSK 7-9
Xīn Zhōngguó chénglì, zhēn kěwèi yíchàngxióngjītiānxiàbái.
The founding of the New China - truly 'one crow of the rooster and all under heaven turned bright.'

Tips

history
From 毛泽东《浣溪沙·和柳亚子先生》 (Mao Zedong, 1950), a ci written in response to 柳亚子 at the first National Day banquet: 长夜难明赤县天,百年魔怪舞翩跹,人民五亿不团圆。一唱雄鸡天下白,万方乐奏有于阗,诗人兴会更无前 (The long night was hard to lighten over the Red County sky; a century of demons danced on; five hundred million people unreunited. One crow of the rooster and all under heaven turned bright; music resounds from every land, even Khotan; the poets' joy has never been greater). The 'rooster' = the new PRC ending the long dark night of old China. Mao adapted the image from 李贺《致酒行》: 雄鸡一声天下白.
usage
The original Tang form is 雄鸡一声天下白 (Li He). Mao inverted it to 一唱雄鸡天下白. Used almost exclusively in PRC-era rhetoric about historical turning points; treat with full awareness of its political register.

Stroke Order

一 yī
唱 chàng
雄 xióng
鸡 jī
天 tiān
下 xià
白 bái