We’re happy to bring you free Chinese lessons. This series dives into idioms and proverbs, meaningful and practical. Today’s phrase is 「當頭棒喝」, with its usage explained below.
Learn about the idiom 「當頭棒喝」: its definition and how it’s used are detailed here.
When Zen Buddhist monks receive beginners, they often hit them with a stick or shout at them to awaken them. It is a metaphor for a stern warning that wakes people up.
The Mandarin pronunciation of this idiom is :
dāng tóu bàng hē
while its Cantonese pinyin is :
dong3/dong1 tau4 paang5 hot3
There are a countless number of Chinese idioms, each with unique meanings and applications. We’ve provided these resources to help guide you as you dive deeper into learning Chinese.
