车水马龙
- Literal
- carriages like water, horses like a dragon
- Figurative
- Dense, unending traffic along streets and avenues; it paints a lively, prosperous city rather than just people streaming past.
Where does 车水马龙 come from?
It comes from the 《后汉书》, from the section on Empress Ma, widow of Emperor Ming. When Emperor Zhang wanted to grant noble titles to her brothers, she refused in an edict. In it she recalled passing the Zhuolong Gate and seeing the people calling on her family: their carriages flowed like water and their horses moved like a dragon. Rather than rebuke them, she had cut off their yearly allowance so that they would feel ashamed. The criticism of extravagance has been lost: today it describes streets thick with traffic and lively cities.
Source (出处): 《后汉书·皇后纪上》
How is 车水马龙 used? Two examples
- 以前这里是一片农田，现在高楼林立，车水马龙。
This used to be farmland; now it's all high-rises, with streets full of traffic.
- 我家楼下就是主干道，白天车水马龙，晚上才安静下来。
There's a main road right below my building; traffic streams past all day and only quiets down at night.
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