A new method to generate multi-wing butterfly chaotic attractors is presented. Based on the three-dimensional Lorenz system, in this paper we propose a four-dimensional multi-wing chaotic system by appending a state variable and a piecewise linear function. The equilibrium points and Lyapunov exponent spectra of the system are studied. Furthermore, an electronic circuit is designed to implement the system. The experimental results are in agreement with numerical simulation results, which verify the feasibility and availability of this method.