Definition

1. Noun:
   • The four directions: Refers to the four cardinal directions (north, south, east, west).
   • The four corners of the earth, the whole world: A figurative and poetic term meaning everywhere, all places under heaven.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Anh ấy đã đi khắp bốn phương. (He has traveled to all four corners of the earth.)
  • Bốn phương vô sản đều là anh em. (Proletarians of the whole world are brothers.)
  • Tung hoành khắp bốn phương. (To rove freely everywhere.)

Advanced Usage

• "Khắp bốn phương": A common collocation meaning "all over the world," "everywhere."
  • Tiếng thơm của ông ấy vang khắp bốn phương. (His good reputation resounds everywhere.)
• "Bốn phương tám hướng": An extended idiom meaning "all directions," emphasizing comprehensiveness.
  • Công ty mở rộng kinh doanh ra bốn phương tám hướng. (The company expands its business in all directions.)

Variants and Related Words

• Phương hướng (n): Direction, orientation.
• Thiên hạ (n): The world, the realm (often used in a similar figurative sense to mean "everyone" or "the whole country/world").

Synonyms

• Khắp nơi: Everywhere.
• Toàn thế giới: The whole world.
• Mọi phương trời: All horizons (a similarly poetic term).

Related Idioms

• "Bốn bể là nhà": Literally "the four seas are home," meaning to be at home anywhere in the world, to be a wanderer.
  • Là một thủy thủ, anh sống với tinh thần "bốn bể là nhà". (As a sailor, he lives with the spirit of "the world is my home.")
• "Nam Bắc Đông Tây": Literally "South, North, East, West," used to indicate all directions.
  • Chiếc xe chạy khắp Nam Bắc Đông Tây. (The vehicle runs all over, North, South, East, and West.)

1. Four directions, the four corners of the earth
   • tung hoành khắp bốn phương
     to rove freely everywhere