破天荒

破天荒

Literally means:

break through the uncultivated land

Actually means:

totally unprecedented; occur for the first time

破 means breaking through. In the Chinese Tang Dynasty, Jingzhou area had never produced is scholar who passed the royal exam, and thus this place was referred to as 天荒, meaning a barren or uncultivated land destined by heaven. Later, one scholar passed the exam and his achieve ment was praised as 破天荒 (breaking the fresh land). It figuratively refers to something unprecedented or appearing for the first time in history.

破，突破。唐朝荆州曾因一直无人考中进士，被称为“天荒”（未开垦的土地）。后来有一个人考上了，被赞为“破天荒”。比喻先前不曾有过或一次出现。