快馬加鞭

Chinese

	fast; quick; swift	horse; surname	to add; plus	a whip or lash; to flog; slash or whip
trad. (快馬加鞭)	快	馬	加	鞭
simp. (快马加鞭)	快	马	加	鞭
Literally: “to whip a fast horse”.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): kuàimǎjiābiān

(Zhuyin): ㄎㄨㄞˋ ㄇㄚˇ ㄐㄧㄚㄅㄧㄢ
Cantonese (Jyutping): faai³ maa⁵ gaa¹ bin¹

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: kuàimǎjiābiān
  - Zhuyin: ㄎㄨㄞˋ ㄇㄚˇ ㄐㄧㄚㄅㄧㄢ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: kuàimǎjiabian
  - Wade–Giles: kʻuai⁴-ma³-chia¹-pien¹
  - Yale: kwài-mǎ-jyā-byān
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: kuaymaajiabian
  - Palladius: куаймацзябянь (kuajmaczjabjanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰu̯aɪ̯⁵¹ mä²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡ɕi̯ä⁵⁵ pi̯ɛn⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: faai³ maa⁵ gaa¹ bin¹
  - Yale: faai máh gā bīn
  - Cantonese Pinyin: faai³ maa⁵ gaa¹ bin¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: fai³ ma⁵ ga¹ bin¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /faːi̯³³ maː¹³ kaː⁵⁵ piːn⁵⁵/

Idiom

快馬加鞭

(literally) to whip the horse to an even swifter speed
- 山
  快馬加鞭未下鞍
   驚回首
   離天三尺三 [Ci, trad.]
  山
  快马加鞭未下鞍
   惊回首
   离天三尺三 [Ci, simp.]
  From: c. 1934, 毛澤東 (Mao Zedong),《十六字令三首》其一 (one of the Three Short Poems), translation based on the Foreign Languages Press edition
  Shān
  Kuàimǎjiābiān wèi xià ān
  Jīng huíshǒu
  Lí tiān sān chǐ sān [Pinyin]
  Mountains!
  Whipping my swift horse, I do not dismount.
  Startled, I turn my head,
  The sky is three foot three* away.
  
  *Author's Note:
  A folk song goes:
  Skull Mountain up above,
  Treasure Mountain down below,
  The sky is only three foot three away.
  Bend your head if you go by foot,
  Dismount if you go by horse.
(of a fast person or thing, figurative) to go even faster; to accelerate the speed
- “坚定不移走中国特色自主创新道路”, in 新华网‎^[1] (overall work in Chinese), 28 February 2016
  问题看到了，就要以时不我待的精神，快马加鞭改变这个局面。不能说了很多年，最后老是没有根本改变。 [MSC, simp.]
  問題看到了，就要以時不我待的精神，快馬加鞭改變這個局面。不能說了很多年，最後老是沒有根本改變。 [MSC, trad.]
  Wèntí kàndào le, jiùyào yǐ shíbùwǒdài de jīngshén, kuàimǎjiābiān gǎibiàn zhège júmiàn. Bùnéng shuō le hěnduō nián, zuìhòu lǎoshì méiyǒu gēnběn gǎibiàn. [Pinyin]
  With this understanding, we should waste no time in making a difference rather than keep on talking year in and year out but do nothing about making a drastic change.