鸿鹄之志

鴻鵠之志
hónghúzhīzhì
idiom

Meanings

  1. 1 lofty ambition
  2. 2 the ambition of a swan

Examples

HSK 4
Tā cóngxiǎo jiù yǒu hónghúzhīzhì, xiǎng dāng yì míng kēxuéjiā.
Even as a boy he had great ambitions and wanted to become a scientist.
HSK 7-9
Biékàn tā xiànzài zhǐshì ge xiǎo zhíyuán, què xiōnghuái hónghúzhīzhì.
He may be only a junior clerk now, but he harbours lofty ambitions.

Tips

history
From the 史记: the young farmhand 陈胜, mocked for talking of greatness, sighed 燕雀安知鸿鹄之志, 'how could sparrows know a swan's ambition?' In 209 BC he led the first great rising against the Qin.

Stroke Order

鸿 hóng
鹄 hú
之 zhī
志 zhì