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破釜沉舟

Mandarin · pinyin pò fǔ chén zhōu

lit. to break the cauldrons and sink the boats (idiom); fig. to cut off one's means of retreat
to burn one's boats

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Characters in this entry

破: pò · break, ruin, destroy; rout
釜: fǔ · cauldron, pot, kettle
沉: chén · sink, submerge; addicted to
舟: zhōu · boat, ship; Kangxi radical 137

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Mandarin tones

4–3–2–1 · po4 fu3 chen2 zhou1

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

po3 fu2 cam4 zau1

Cantonese word readings for 破釜沉舟. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) to burn one's boats; to cross the Rubicon; to reach the point of no return

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

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