DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

置之死地而後生

简置之死地而后生 · 繁置之死地而後生

Mandarin · pinyin zhì zhī sǐ dì ér hòu shēng

(idiom based on Sunzi's "The Art of War" 孫子兵法 Sūn zǐ Bīng fǎ) to deploy one's troops in such a way that there is no possibility of retreat, so that they will fight for their lives and win the battle; to fight desperately when confronted with mortal danger; to find a way to emerge from a dire situation

Characters in this entry

置: zhì · place, lay out; set aside
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
死: sǐ · die; dead; death
地: de · dì · earth; soil, ground; region
而: ér · and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126
後: hòu · behind, rear, after; descendents
生: shēng · life, living, lifetime; birth
后: hòu · queen, empress, sovereign; (simp. for 後) behind, rear, after

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

4–1–3–4–2–4–1 · zhi4 zhi1 si3 di4 er2 hou4 sheng1

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

8character links1source reference

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

zi3 zi1 sei2 dei6 ji4 hau6 sang1

Cantonese word readings for 置之死地而後生. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

zi3 zi1 sei2 dei6 ji4 hau6 sang1

Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.