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HSK 7-9
lái来comelóng龙dragonqù去gomài脉vein
Origin and development; cause and effect; the whole story.

Literal meaning

come (来) — dragon (龙) — go (去) — vein (脉)

Origin

A classical four-character phrase, originally used in geomancy (feng shui) to describe the direction of mountains and rivers. Now used to describe the origin and development of something.

Examples

Qǐng请nǐ你bǎ把shì事qing情de的lái来lóng龙qù去mài脉shuō说qīng清chǔ楚。
Please explain the whole story clearly.
Wǒ我men们xū需yào要liǎo了jiě解zhè这ge个xiàng项mù目de的lái来lóng龙qù去mài脉。
We need to understand the origin and development of this project.

Usage & nuances

Used to emphasize the importance of understanding the full context of something.

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