Chinese idiom · 成语
风平浪静
Meaning
Calm winds and still waves; peace and tranquility.
Character by character
Origin and story
Literary expressionYang Wanli’s Song poem Bo Guang Kou (泊光口) opens with wind and waves so still that the water looks like a newly polished mirror. The next lines complicate that calm: a hidden current rises from below and turns the surface into circling movement. The idiom itself comes from the opening description.
Its first meaning remains literal, describing quiet weather and smooth water. Writers also apply it to human affairs, where it means a calm period without disturbance or a stable situation. The poem is an observed contrast between surface stillness and movement, not a promise that peaceful appearances will always last.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
合同签好后，合作总算风平浪静，大家可以专心做事了。
Once the contract was signed, the partnership finally settled down and everyone could focus on the work.
Can describe actual water or, figuratively, settled affairs.