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人山人海 (rén shān-rén hǎi) — (idiom) packed with people; a sea of people; huge crowd

Definition

A chengyu describing a place so packed it looks like 'mountains and seas of people.' Unlike 群众 ('the masses' as a political/social group), it depicts a dense crowd at a specific scene, not a population.

idiom
packed with peoplea sea of peoplehuge crowd

Examples

  • 人山人海，。
    Guó qìng jié de gù gōng mén kǒu rén shān-rén hǎi, pái le hěn cháng de duì.
    During National Day, the entrance of the Forbidden City was packed with people, and there was a very long queue.
  • 人山人海，。
    Zhōu mò de shāng chǎng lǐ rén shān-rén hǎi, zhǎo gè tíng chē wèi dōu bù róng yì.
    The mall was a sea of people on the weekend, and finding a parking spot was not easy.
  • 人山人海，。
    Yǎn chàng huì xiàn chǎng rén shān-rén hǎi, qì fen fēi cháng rè liè.
    The concert venue was packed with people, and the atmosphere was very lively.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

人山people mountain
人rénpeople山shānmountain
偏正Modifier + head
人海people sea
人rénpeople海hǎisea
偏正Modifier + head

人山 and 人海 compare a crowd to mountains and seas of people.

Characters in this word

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

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

山 shows three mountain peaks side by side.

Open 山 →

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

The shape of 人 shows a side view of a standing person, with an arm and a leg.

Open 人 →

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
氵Written in full as水shuǐwater
Sound part声符shēngfú
每
每měi海hǎi
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

海 pairs 氵 (water) with 每, which gives the sound. The 氵 side shows it is about water.

Open 海 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 6Idioms & Set PhrasesPeople (General)

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