巧夺天工 (qiǎo duó tiān gōng) — (idiom) so skillfully made that it surpasses nature; exquisite craftsmanship

Definition

A chengyu praising human craftsmanship so skillful it outshines nature. Used for art, architecture, carving — not for natural scenery or for praising the person themselves.

idiom
so skillfully made that it surpasses natureexquisite craftsmanship

Examples

  • 巧夺天工，。
    Zhè jiàn yù diāo zhēn shì qiǎo duó tiān gōng, ràng rén tàn wéi guān zhǐ.
    This jade carving is truly surpassing nature; it leaves people in awe.
  • 巧夺天工。
    Sū zhōu yuán lín de jiàn zhù yì shù kě shuō shì qiǎo duó tiān gōng.
    The architectural art of Suzhou gardens can be described as surpassing nature.
  • 巧夺天工。
    Gù gōng lǐ de diāo kè zuò pǐn kān chēng qiǎo duó tiān gōng.
    The carved works inside the Forbidden City are worthy of being called surpassing nature.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

巧夺skillfully surpass
巧qiǎoskillful夺duósurpass
偏正Modifier + head
天工nature's work
天tiānnature工gōngwork
偏正Modifier + head

巧夺 means skillfully surpass and 天工 means nature's work, saying craftsmanship surpasses nature.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
工工gōng
Sound part声符shēngfú
丂
丂kǎo巧qiǎo
Same sound today

巧 is made of 工 and 丂; 工 points to its meaning, and 丂 points to its sound.

Open 巧 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 奪; 夺 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 奪 includes 又 (a hand), 雀 (a bird), and 衣 (clothing), showing a hand seizing a bird from someone; the simplified 夺 is a later abbreviation.

Open 夺 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
大大dà
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng天tiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape comes from a frontal standing man 大 with a head; 天 pairs 大 with 丁 for sound.

Open 天 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Open 工 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.