晴空万里 (qíng kōng wàn lǐ) — (set phrase) a clear, cloudless sky; beautiful, cloud-free weather

Definition

A chengyu describing a perfectly clear sky stretching to the horizon — vivid and literary. Used in writing or to praise weather, not in casual small talk.

idiom
(set phrase) a clearcloudless skybeautifulcloud-free weather

Examples

  • 晴空万里，。
    Jīn tiān qíng kōng wàn lǐ, fēi cháng shì hé chū qù wán.
    Today the sky is perfectly clear — it's great to go out and have fun.
  • 晴空万里，。
    Fēi jī fēi shàng qíng kōng wàn lǐ, chuāng wài de jǐng sè měi jí le.
    The plane flew into a vast clear sky, and the view outside the window was stunning.
  • ，晴空万里，。
    Yì chǎng dà yǔ zhī hòu, tiān kōng qíng kōng wàn lǐ, yáng guāng càn làn.
    After a heavy rain, the sky was clear and boundless, with brilliant sunshine.

Origin

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
日日rìsun
Sound part声符shēngfú
青
青qīng晴qíng
Same sound today

晴 puts 日, the sun, beside 青, which gives its sound.

Open 晴 →

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
穴穴xuécave, hole
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng空kōng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

空 is built from 穴, a cave or hole, and 工, which gives the sound.

Open 空 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 萬; 万 is its simplified writing.

For 万, the form 萬 was originally a picture of a scorpion, later borrowed for its sound to write 'ten thousand'; the scorpion picture is unrelated to that number.

Open 万 →

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

This origin belongs to the traditional form 裡; 里 is its simplified writing.

The simplified 里 stands for more than one traditional character. In most words (里, 里面) it is 裡; in others (公里) it is 里 or 裏.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
衤Written in full as衣yīclothes
Sound part声符shēngfú
里
里lǐ裡lǐ
Same sound today

The form 裡 pairs 衤 (clothes) with 里 as a sound component.

Open 里 →

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