<p>To expand on the comment I hastily wrote this morning:</p>
<p>扬眉吐气 is literally &quot;to raise the eyebrows (扬眉), and to have a sigh of relief (吐气)&quot;. 扬眉 is also sometimes explained as &quot;to relax the furrowed eyebrows.&quot; Regardless, it describes the countenance one has when one is finally relieved of a depressing situation.</p>
<p>Li Bai considered himself a talented poet, but for much of his life he did not get a position in the imperial court. See <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/56342/could-someone-help-me-untangle-some-of-the-mistranslations-in-ezra-pounds-exil">this</a> recent post which is also related to his frustration. You can imagine this was depressing for literati at that time. So Li Bai was saying he hoped to be recommended to the court, and get relieved from this depressing status.</p>
<p>激昂 means being excited and energetic. 青云 is clouds in the high sky, and is a metaphor for high status/position. 激昂青云 probably means 激昂于青云, to be energetic in a high status, which is the emotional state one has after being promoted to that position.</p>
<p>Overall this sentence says (as in my comment), &quot;why value the space before your stairs so much (why do you not let me visit you), so that 白 (Li Bai himself) can be relieved from the current depressed situation (扬眉吐气) and get energetic in a high position (激昂青云)?&quot;</p>
<p>The sentence comes from the essay <a href="https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E8%88%87%E9%9F%93%E8%8D%8A%E5%B7%9E%E6%9B%B8" rel="nofollow noreferrer">與韓荊州書</a>, which is very famous and widely read. However, it seems that it did not impress 韩荆州 much, and Li Bai did not enter the court until ten years later.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-24T19:48:13.907Z
2024-01-24T19:48:13.907Z
user2249675
<p>For many famous old texts you can find Modern Chinese translations. The old stuff is way too cryptic for me to understand.</p>
<p>出自唐代李白的《与韩荆州书》</p>
<p>Old Chinese</p>
<p>今天下以君侯为文章之司命，人物之权衡，一经品题，便作佳士。而君侯何惜阶前盈尺之地，不使白扬眉吐气，激昂青云耶？</p>
<p>Modern Chinese translation of the Old Chinese</p>
<p>如今天下人认为您是决定文章命运、衡量人物高下的权威，<br />
As nowadays the whole world believes you decide the fate of literature and are the authority that weighs the the value of person's character,<br />
一经您的品评，<br />
(when) you have made your (positive?) judgement,<br />
便被认作美士，<br />
then one is recognised as a scholar of the arts,<br />
您何必舍不得阶前的区区一尺之地接待我，<br />
why do you begrudge receiving me beneath your stairs,<br />
而使我不能扬眉吐气、激厉昂扬、气概凌云呢？<br />
and relieving me of my worries, (which would) excite (in me) great elation and high spirits?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-25T06:53:49.363Z
2024-01-25T06:53:49.363Z
Pedroski
<p>I'm looking at a dictionary entry of the proverb &quot;揚眉吐氣&quot;. They give this example sentence:</p>
<p>&quot;何惜階前盈尺之地，不使白揚眉吐氣，激昂青雲耶？&quot;</p>
<p>Honestly don't really understand what's being said, especially the &quot;何惜階前盈尺之地&quot; part or why they say &quot;不使白&quot; before 揚眉吐氣.</p>
<p>If anyone can help break the sentence down for me, that would be very helpful. From my understanding, the proverb literally refers to someone lifting their brows and exhaling, signifying that the person is expressing themselves in a more carefree and prideful manner. Don't really understand the rest of the sentence in the example given.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-24T16:31:02.710Z
It's classical Chinese (与韩荆州书), Li Bai is asking for Han Jingzhou to recommend him to the imperial court. 白 here is Li Bai for short. It's roughly, "why value the space before your stairs so much (why do you not let me visit you), so that 白 (Li Bai) can 扬眉吐气 and 激昂青云?"
user2249675
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-24T17:30:24.987Z
@user2249675 I think you can make an excellent answer by offering the basic explanations for 扬眉吐气 and 激昂青云.
r13
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-24T19:48:53.620Z
OK. I was busy at work this morning when I wrote the comment.
user2249675
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-25T02:42:07.000Z
in colloquial English:" Be generous and give me the chance to face the imperial court, so that I, Li Bai, can show how ambitious and passionate I am
Tang Ho
<translation><literature>
Help understanding a dictionary sentence example using 揚眉吐氣
# Help understanding a dictionary sentence example using 揚眉吐氣

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-01-24)

I'm looking at a dictionary entry of the proverb "揚眉吐氣". They give this example sentence:

"何惜階前盈尺之地，不使白揚眉吐氣，激昂青雲耶？"

Honestly don't really understand what's being said, especially the "何惜階前盈尺之地" part or why they say "不使白" before 揚眉吐氣.

If anyone can help break the sentence down for me, that would be very helpful. From my understanding, the proverb literally refers to someone lifting their brows and exhaling, signifying that the person is expressing themselves in a more carefree and prideful manner. Don't really understand the rest of the sentence in the example given.

Thanks

**Tags:** translation, literature

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: It's classical Chinese (与韩荆州书), Li Bai is asking for Han Jingzhou to recommend him to the imperial court. 白 here is Li Bai for short. It's roughly, "why value the space before your stairs so much (why do you not let me visit you), so that 白 (Li Bai) can 扬眉吐气 and 激昂青云?"  
> **username_2**: @username_1 I think you can make an excellent answer by offering the basic explanations for 扬眉吐气 and 激昂青云.  
> **username_1**: OK. I was busy at work this morning when I wrote the comment.  
> **username_3**: in colloquial English:" Be generous and give me the chance to face the imperial court, so that I, Li Bai, can show how ambitious and passionate I am  

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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-01-24. Score: 1

To expand on the comment I hastily wrote this morning:

扬眉吐气 is literally "to raise the eyebrows (扬眉), and to have a sigh of relief (吐气)". 扬眉 is also sometimes explained as "to relax the furrowed eyebrows." Regardless, it describes the countenance one has when one is finally relieved of a depressing situation.

Li Bai considered himself a talented poet, but for much of his life he did not get a position in the imperial court. See [this](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/56342/could-someone-help-me-untangle-some-of-the-mistranslations-in-ezra-pounds-exil) recent post which is also related to his frustration. You can imagine this was depressing for literati at that time. So Li Bai was saying he hoped to be recommended to the court, and get relieved from this depressing status.

激昂 means being excited and energetic. 青云 is clouds in the high sky, and is a metaphor for high status/position. 激昂青云 probably means 激昂于青云, to be energetic in a high status, which is the emotional state one has after being promoted to that position.

Overall this sentence says (as in my comment), "why value the space before your stairs so much (why do you not let me visit you), so that 白 (Li Bai himself) can be relieved from the current depressed situation (扬眉吐气) and get energetic in a high position (激昂青云)?"

The sentence comes from the essay [與韓荊州書](https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E8%88%87%E9%9F%93%E8%8D%8A%E5%B7%9E%E6%9B%B8), which is very famous and widely read. However, it seems that it did not impress 韩荆州 much, and Li Bai did not enter the court until ten years later.


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### Answer by username_4 on 2024-01-25. Score: 0

For many famous old texts you can find Modern Chinese translations. The old stuff is way too cryptic for me to understand.

出自唐代李白的《与韩荆州书》

Old Chinese

今天下以君侯为文章之司命，人物之权衡，一经品题，便作佳士。而君侯何惜阶前盈尺之地，不使白扬眉吐气，激昂青云耶？

Modern Chinese translation of the Old Chinese

如今天下人认为您是决定文章命运、衡量人物高下的权威，  
As nowadays the whole world believes you decide the fate of literature and are the authority that weighs the the value of person's character,  
一经您的品评，  
(when) you have made your (positive?) judgement,  
便被认作美士，  
then one is recognised as a scholar of the arts,  
您何必舍不得阶前的区区一尺之地接待我，  
why do you begrudge receiving me beneath your stairs,  
而使我不能扬眉吐气、激厉昂扬、气概凌云呢？  
and relieving me of my worries, (which would) excite (in me) great elation and high spirits?


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