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wén 闻 jī 鸡 qǐ 起 wǔ 舞

闻鸡起舞 wén jī qǐ wǔ

to rise at cockcrow to practise; to be diligent and self-disciplined

Literally: hear rooster rise dance

Intermediate 📚 Study & effort
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Origin

From the Jin shu: Zu Ti and Liu Kun got up to practise swordsmanship whenever they heard the rooster crow at night.

How to use it

Predicate; positive, literary. 闻鸡起舞的精神.

Example sentences

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  1. 为了准备比赛，他每天闻鸡起舞，早早就去跑步。
    Wèile zhǔnbèi bǐsài, tā měi tiān wén jī qǐ wǔ, zǎozǎo jiù qù pǎobù.
    To prepare for the race he rises at cockcrow every day and goes running early.
    in order to prepare competition, he every day hear rooster rise dance, early early then go run
  2. 古人闻鸡起舞的故事，一直鼓励着我们努力学习。
    Gǔrén wén jī qǐ wǔ de gùshi, yīzhí gǔlì zhe wǒmen nǔlì xuéxí.
    The old story of rising at cockcrow to practise still inspires us to study hard.
    ancient person hear rooster rise dance (particle) story, always encourage (particle) us hard study

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