觥筹交错
gōng chóu jiāo cuò
wine cups and drinking tallies criss-cross: a lively, drink-filled banquet
Character by character
觥gōng
goblet
goblet
筹chóu
tally
tally
交jiāo
cross
cross
错cuò
mingle
mingle
Example
酒店大厅里觥筹交错，几十桌客人正在庆贺公司成立十周年。
Glasses were clinking all over the hotel ballroom, where dozens of tables of guests were celebrating the company’s tenth anniversary.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
From 欧阳修’s 醉翁亭记 (1046): 觥 is an old horn-shaped wine vessel and 筹 the tallies used to keep score in drinking games. Written and descriptive, it paints the scene of a feast; in reports on official extravagance it takes on a critical edge.
Learn this in Lesson 139 · HSK 7–9: 茅台 (Moutai)
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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