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翻手为云覆手变雨

fān shǒu wéi yún fù shǒu biàn yǔdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. turning his hand palm up he gathers the clouds, turning his hand palm down he turns them to rain / very powerful and capable (idiom)
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-8b586d7a86ac4511. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

翻手為雲覆手變雨 翻手为云覆手变雨 [fan1 shou3 wei2 yun2 fu4 shou3 bian4 yu3] /lit. turning his hand palm up he gathers the clouds, turning his hand palm down he turns them to rain/very powerful and capable (idiom)/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 翻手為雲覆手變雨

  • 翻
    fān

    to turn over / to flip over / to overturn / to rummage through / to translate / to decode / to double / to climb over or into / to cross

  • 手
    shǒu

    hand / (formal) to hold / person engaged in certain types of work / person skilled in certain types of work / personal(ly) / convenient / classifier for skill / CL:雙|双[shuāng],隻|只[zhī]

  • 为
    wéi

    as (in the capacity of) / to take sth as / to act as / to serve as / to behave as / to become / to be / to do / by (in the passive voice)

    wèi

    because of / for / to

  • 云
    yún

    (classical) to say / cloud / CL:朵[duǒ]

    Yún

    surname Yun / short name for Yunnan 雲南|云南[Yún nán]

  • 覆
    fù

    to reply to a letter / to cover / to overflow / to overturn / to capsize

  • 手
    shǒu

    hand / (formal) to hold / person engaged in certain types of work / person skilled in certain types of work / personal(ly) / convenient / classifier for skill / CL:雙|双[shuāng],隻|只[zhī]

  • 变
    biàn

    to change / to become different / to transform / to vary / rebellion

  • 雨
    yù

    (literary) to rain / (of rain, snow etc) to fall / to precipitate / to wet

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.