Break Woks, Sink Boats. (Burning One's Boat)

Characters:

Pronunciation: po(4) fu(3) chen(2) zhou(1)
Explanation: To describe one's strong decision to 'never retreat'

Tone: Neutral

The Story: At the end of the Qin Dynasty, many rebellions rose up, but Qin's General Zhang Han was very brave. After he defeated many rebels, he began to attack West Chu.

The King of West Chu sent 2 of his generals, Song Yi and Xiang Yu to defend the kingdom. Because of Song Yi's fear for Qin's army, he kept his soldiers stationed near the riverbank for more than 40 days without making one move. His comrade Xiang Yu hated his cowardly behavior, so at last he killed Song Yi and commanded the soldiers to cross the river. After crossing the river, Xiang Yu ordered them to sink their boats and break their woks after preparing 3 day's food. He told his men they would not back unless they won the battle.

When Xiang Yu's army arrive at the frontier, they blocked the food-supply route of the Qin. Then after 9 severe battles at Ju Lu Town, Xiang Yu defeated Qin's army totally. From then on, he became the hero of the anti-Qin army.

Usage Example (Pinyin): Wo (3) xiang(3) zhe(4) ge(4) nu(3) hai(2) hui(4) shi(2) xian(4) ta(1) de yuan(4) wang(4), yin(1) wei(4) ta(1) you(3) po(4) fu(3) chen(2) zhou(1) de jue(2) xin(1)

Usage Example (English translation): I think the girl will fulfil her will as she is detemrined to "break woks and sink boats".

Note: The spoken Chinese Mandarin language has 4 spoken tones. We have attempted to re-create those above where after each syllable we tell you (1), (2), (3), or (4) as they correspond to each of the 4 tones. We encourage you to complement your Xianzai.com Chinese Idioms newsletter with a good offline study program.