打天下 (dǎ tiān xià) — to conquer the country (by force); to establish one's position or career through struggle

Definition

A vivid figurative verb meaning 'to carve out one's domain' — either literally conquering a realm, or, more commonly today, building a career/business from scratch through struggle.

verb
to conquer the country (by force)to establish one's position or career through struggle

Examples

  • 打天下。
    Gǔ dài hěn duō yīng xióng dōu xiǎng dǎ tiān xià.
    In ancient times, many heroes wanted to conquer the country.
  • 。
    Tā kào zì jǐ de nǔ lì dǎ xià le tiān xià.
    He established his own empire through his own efforts.
  • 打天下，。
    Chuàng yè jiù xiàng dǎ tiān xià, xū yào yǒng qì hé zhì huì.
    Starting a business is like conquering the country; it requires courage and wisdom.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

打dǎconquer
天下all under heaven
天tiānheaven下xiàunder
偏正Modifier + head

打 means conquer and 天下 means all under heaven; the word describes conquering the world.

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
扌Written in full as手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
丁
丁dīng打dǎ
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

打 uses 扌, a hand, to show an action done with the hand, and 丁 to give the sound.

Open 打 →

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 →

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

下 is drawn as a short horizontal line below a long curved line.

Open 下 →

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