横空出世
héng kōng chū shì
to burst onto the scene; to appear out of nowhere, astonishing everyone
Character by character
横héng
across
across
空kōng
sky
sky
出chū
come out
come out
世shì
world
world
Example
这位新歌手横空出世，第一张专辑就卖出了上百万张。
This new singer burst onto the scene, and her first album sold over a million copies.
Tone: positive (praise).
Usage and origin
From the opening line of 毛泽东’s 1935 poem on 昆仑 (横空出世，莽昆仑), which pictures the Kunlun range rearing across the sky. Now said of a person, product or work that appears suddenly and impresses everyone: 一款新产品横空出世. Compare 异军突起 (lesson 3-3), which stresses a new force rising against the established ones.
Learn this in Lesson 72 · HSK 6: DeepSeek与大模型 (DeepSeek and the AI race)
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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