DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

出師未捷身先死

简出师未捷身先死 · 繁出師未捷身先死

Mandarin · pinyin chū shī wèi jié shēn xiān sǐ

"he failed to complete his quest before death" (line from the poem "The Premier of Shu" 蜀相 Shǔ xiàng by Du Fu 杜甫 Dù Fǔ)

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Characters in this entry

出: chū · go out, send out; stand; produce
師: shī · teacher, master, specialist; multitude, troops; hexagram ䷆
未: wèi · not yet; eighth earthly branch
捷: jié · win, victory, triumph
身: shēn · body; trunk, hull; Kangxi radical 158
先: xiān · first, former, previous
死: sǐ · die; dead; death
师: shī · teacher, master, specialist

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–4–2–1–1–3 · chu1 shi1 wei4 jie2 shen1 xian1 si3

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出師未捷身先死 · find source passages ↗ · 出师未捷身先死 · find source passages ↗

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