万马齐喑

萬馬齊喑

wànmǎ-qíyīn

idiom #84,635

Meanings

HSK 4

经理问谁有意见，会议室里万马齐喑，没人开口。

Jīnglǐ wèn shéi yǒu yìjian, huìyìshì lǐ wànmǎ-qíyīn, méi rén kāikǒu.

The manager asked if anyone had objections, and the meeting room went dead silent; no one spoke up.

HSK 7-9

龚自珍在诗里感叹当时万马齐喑的局面，盼望人才辈出。

Gōng Zìzhēn zài shī lǐ gǎntàn dāngshí wànmǎ-qíyīn de júmiàn, pànwàng réncái-bèichū.

Gong Zizhen lamented in verse the stifled silence of his day and longed for talent to rise.

history

From 龚自珍's 己亥杂诗 (1839): 九州生气恃风雷，万马齐喑究可哀, 'the life of the land hangs on wind and thunder; ten thousand horses all mute, how sad'.

mistakes

喑 is yīn 'mute'. Do not read it as àn because of its likeness to 暗.

万 wàn

马 mǎ

齐 qí

喑 yīn