天马行空
tiān mǎ xíng kōng
like a heavenly horse galloping across the sky: (of ideas, writing) free and imaginative; (critically) fanciful
Character by character
天tiān
heavenly
heavenly
马mǎ
horse
horse
行xíng
travel
travel
空kōng
sky
sky
Example
孩子们的画天马行空，有的给房子装上翅膀，有的让鱼在天上游。
The children’s pictures ran wild with imagination: some gave houses wings, others had fish swimming in the sky.
Tone: neutral.
Usage and origin
First praise of bold, unfettered poetry and writing; today used for imaginative ideas and fiction (天马行空的想象). It can also criticise a plan with no footing in reality: 这个方案太天马行空了. Compare 异想天开, which is nearly always a put-down.
Learn this in Lesson 178 · HSK 7–9: 中国天眼 (China’s Sky Eye)
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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