sei3 daai6 tin1 wong4四大天王
Jyutpingsei3 daai6 tin1 wong4
Yalesei daaih tīn wòhng
Definition
The four leading male pop stars of 1990s Hong Kong (Jacky Cheung, Aaron Kwok, Leon Lai, and Andy Lau).
colloquialpeople
How it's used
Originally a Buddhist term referring to the four guardian deities, this label was repurposed by the media in the early 1990s to describe the four dominant male pop idols. It is now a cultural shorthand for that specific era of Hong Kong entertainment history. Even though the stars have aged, the term remains fixed to this specific group and is not applied to newer generations of singers.
Examples
The nineties were the golden age of the Four Heavenly Kings.
Related words
Common phrases
the era of the Four Heavenly Kings
Grammar color guide
Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Pronoun
Classifier
Particle
Connector
Grammar guides
- Directional complementsThe small words added after a verb to show direction of movement, like up, down, out, in, and back. Common in everyday Cantonese.
- DemonstrativesThis and that with 呢 and 嗰, the personal pronouns, and how 哋 turns I, you, and he into we, you all, and they.
- Resultative complementsSticking a result word onto a verb to show how it turned out, like eat until full or look and find. A productive everyday pattern.
