尺幅千里
chǐ fú qiān lǐ
a vast scene in a small picture; much in little
Character by character
尺chǐ
foot
foot
幅fú
width
width
千qiān
thousand
thousand
里lǐ
li
li
Example
这幅小画不过一尺来长，却尺幅千里，整条江的气势都画出来了。
The little picture is barely a foot long, yet it holds a whole landscape: the full sweep of the river is there.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
Praise for landscape painting that puts a thousand li of scenery into a foot of silk, and by extension for short writing that says a great deal. Formal and literary.
Learn this in Lesson 93 · HSK 6–7: 两幅北宋长卷 (Two Northern Song scrolls)
A dialogue, a reading, word cards with audio and a drill that uses it, in Learn Chinese with Bao. The first lessons of every level are free.
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