龍盤虎踞

Quoted from Zhuge Liang's description of Nanjing's terrain:

劉備曾使諸葛亮至京，因睹秣陵山阜，歎曰：「鍾山龍盤，石頭虎踞，此帝王之宅。」 [Literary Chinese, trad.]

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刘备曾使诸葛亮至京，因睹秣陵山阜，叹曰：「钟山龙盘，石头虎踞，此帝王之宅。」 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

From: Taiping Yulan (Readings of the Taiping Era), 977 – 983 CE

Liú Bèi céng shǐ Zhūgě Liàng zhì jīng, yīn dǔ Mòlíng shān fù, tàn yuē: “Zhōngshān lóng pán, Shítóu hǔ jù, cǐ dìwáng zhī zhái.” [Pinyin]

Liu Bei has once ordered Zhuge Liang to Nanjing. He saw the mountains there and said, “The Bell Mountain is like a coiled dragon, and the Stone City is like a crouched tiger. This should be the home of the emperor.”

But this was opposed by Tan Qixiang, who believed Zhuge Liang had never been there, and thus at best a folk etymology.

First attested in Xijing Zaji, Volume VI:

既剝既刊，見其文章，或如龍盤虎踞，復似鸞集鳳翔。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
既剥既刊，见其文章，或如龙盘虎踞，复似鸾集凤翔。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

From: 2^nd century BCE, Liu Sheng, Prince of Zhongshan, Rhyme-Prose on a Patterned Piece of Wood

Jì bō jì kān, xiàn qí wénzhāng, huò rú lóng pán hǔ jù, fù sì luán jí fèng xiáng. [Pinyin]

(please add an English translation of this usage example)

龍盤虎踞

1. a location with forbidding and dangerous terrain, especially Nanjing

• 虎踞龍盤／虎踞龙盘
• 虎據龍盤／虎据龙盘