Kěshàngjiǔtiānlǎnyuè, kěxiàwǔyángzhuōbiē, shì duì zhè dài kēxuéjiā de zhēnshí xiězhào.
'Climb the ninth heaven to pluck the moon, dive the five seas to catch the turtle' truly describes this generation of scientists.
Tips
history
Paired half of a famous line from 毛泽东's 1965 poem 《水调歌头·重上井冈山》: 可上九天揽月，可下五洋捉鳖，谈笑凯歌还 - 'We may climb the ninth heaven to pluck the moon, or descend the five seas to catch the giant turtle; laughing and singing, we return in triumph.' Now standard rhetoric for China's deep-sea exploration program.
usage
鳖 is the soft-shelled turtle, a symbol of the deep water. Always cited with its twin 可上九天揽月 ('climb the ninth heaven to pluck the moon'). The pair frames any bold ambition that reaches both up and down.
