Basic Information
Chinese idiom: 欢天喜地
Pinyin: huān tiān xǐ dì
Literal Meaning: Joy filling heaven and earth
Figurative Meaning: To be extremely delighted, overjoyed, or thoroughly happy
Extended Background & Usage Notes
This is a widely used positive Chinese idiom. It vividly depicts an intense, unrestrained sense of happiness that spreads widely, describing individuals or groups celebrating joyfully with great excitement. It is always used in a commendatory sense to express genuine pleasure rather than casual or mild happiness, commonly applied to festive occasions, happy reunions or triumphant moments in daily communication and written works.
Origin
1. Anonymous writer of the Song Dynasty, Stories from Popular Song Novels: The Wrongful Execution of Cui Ning:
For the moment, everyone was huān tiān xǐ dì and had no other complaints.
“The Wrongful Execution of Cui Ning” (Mistakenly Beheading Cui Ning) is a vernacular short story written by an anonymous author during the Southern Song Dynasty. It was originally included in the collection Jingben Tongsu Xiaoshuo (Popular Stories from the Capital or Stories from Popular Song Novels). In the late Ming Dynasty, Feng Menglong incorporated it into the thirty-third chapter of his Xingshi Hengyan (Stories to Awaken the World) and retitled it “Fifteen Strings of Coins: A Jesting Remark Leads to a Tragic Wrong.“
2. Wang Shifu of the Yuan Dynasty, The Western Chamber (Act 4, Book 5):
I hold the imperial edict granting her the title of county lady. How can I not be huān tiān xǐ dì to hand over this honor with my own hands?
Example Sentences
Wu Xiuquan, My Life Journey (Chapter 15):
On October 1, 1949, the People’s Republic of China was founded! I was in Shenyang then, where red flags waved everywhere, lanterns and decorations hung in every corner, and all people were huān tiān xǐ dì.
Usage
It is a commendatory idiom, used to praise genuine, exuberant happiness.
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