大公鸡 (Dà Gōngjī): The Chinese "Big Rooster" Nursery Rhyme

Quick answer: 大公鸡 (Dà Gōngjī, "Big Rooster") is a short, simple Chinese nursery rhyme built around a few easy, repeatable images — a red comb, colorful feathers, and the rooster's "喔喔喔" crow — which makes it one of the easiest songs on this list to use with a very young baby.

The lyrics

Chinese	Pinyin	English
大公鸡	Dà gōngjī	Big rooster,
真漂亮	Zhēn piàoliang	So handsome,
红红的鸡冠	Hónghóng de jīguān	A bright red comb,
花花的衣裳	Huāhuā de yīshang	Colorful feathers like a patterned coat,
每天早上	Měitiān zǎoshang	Every morning,
喔喔喔	Wō wō wō	Cock-a-doodle-doo,
喔喔喔	Wō wō wō	Cock-a-doodle-doo,
叫我们起床	Jiào wǒmen qǐchuáng	Calling us to wake up.

Where it comes from

大公鸡 belongs to a large, informal family of Chinese animal-themed nursery rhymes (儿歌) taught to toddlers — short chants with no single fixed text or credited author, closer in spirit to "Baa Baa Black Sheep" than to a composed song. Different kindergartens, songbooks, and regions each have their own slightly different version, but nearly all of them share the same handful of images: the rooster's red comb (鸡冠), its bright feathers, and its "喔喔喔" crow marking the start of the day.

Rhymes like this exist because they're genuinely useful teaching tools — a rooster is visually distinctive, its sound is easy to imitate, and "the rooster crows, so everyone wakes up" is a small, complete story a very young child can follow from beginning to end.

How to sing it with your baby

• Newborn – 6 months: Sing the "喔喔喔" lines with a big, exaggerated crow — newborns respond well to expressive, varied pitch, and this is one of the few songs on this list built around a fun sound effect rather than a smooth melody.
• 6–18 months: Pair it with your morning routine. Sing it as you open the curtains or get baby out of the crib, so "叫我们起床" (jiào wǒmen qǐchuáng, "calling us to wake up") lines up with something actually happening. Pause slightly before each "喔喔喔" and let baby anticipate and fill the silence with excitement.
• 18 months+: Ask your toddler to do the rooster crow themselves, and see if they'll point to a picture of a rooster's comb (鸡冠) or feathers (衣裳) in a book. This is also an easy one to extend into other farm-animal sounds once the "big animal, sound, action" pattern is familiar.

Continue building your song list

This is one of the songs in the collection of Chinese lullabies and nursery rhymes on Twiglet Tales — browse the full set for more songs at every stage, or see the Growth Roadmap for a staged plan beyond songs alone.