DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

不撞南牆不回頭

简不撞南墙不回头 · 繁不撞南牆不回頭

Mandarin · pinyin bù zhuàng nán qiáng bù huí tóu

to stubbornly insist on one's own ideas (idiom)

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
撞: zhuàng · knock against, bump into, collide
南: nán · south; southern part; southward
牆: Look up this written character
回: huí · return, turn around; a time
頭: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss
墙: qiáng · wall
头: tóu · head; top; chief, first; boss

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–4–2–2–4–2–2 · bu4 zhuang4 nan2 qiang2 bu4 hui2 tou2

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

7character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

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

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

不撞南牆不回頭 · find source passages ↗ · 不撞南墙不回头 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to be stubborn and refuse to give up or repent until one has experienced failure

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack