畫龍點睛

See also: 画龙点睛

Chinese

		draw; picture; painting	dragon; imperial; surname	to dot in the eyes on a painting; to add the finishing touch
trad. (畫龍點睛)		畫	龍	點睛
simp. (画龙点睛)		画	龙	点睛
Literally: “to draw a dragon and dot in the eyes”.

Etymology

From an anecdote of a 6th-century Chinese painter Zhang Sengyou.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): huàlóngdiǎnjīng

  (Zhuyin): ㄏㄨㄚˋ ㄌㄨㄥˊ ㄉㄧㄢˇ ㄐㄧㄥ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): waak⁶ lung⁴ dim² zing¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: huàlóngdiǎnjīng
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄨㄚˋ ㄌㄨㄥˊ ㄉㄧㄢˇ ㄐㄧㄥ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: huàlóngdiǎnjing
    • Wade–Giles: hua⁴-lung²-tien³-ching¹
    • Yale: hwà-lúng-dyǎn-jīng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: huahlongdeanjing
    • Palladius: хуалундяньцзин (xualundjanʹczin)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /xu̯ä⁵¹ lʊŋ³⁵ ti̯ɛn²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡ɕiŋ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: waak⁶ lung⁴ dim² zing¹
    • Yale: waahk lùhng dím jīng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: waak⁹ lung⁴ dim² dzing¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: wag⁶ lung⁴ dim² jing¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /waːk̚² lʊŋ²¹ tiːm³⁵ t͡sɪŋ⁵⁵/

Idiom

(deprecated template usage) 畫龍點睛

1. (figurative) to put on the finishing touches

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (畫龍點睛):

• → Japanese: 画竜点睛(がりょうてんせい) (garyōtensei)
• → Korean: 화룡점정(畵龍點睛) (hwaryongjeomjeong)
• → Vietnamese: hoạ long điểm tình (畫龍點睛)