過五關斬六將
简 过五关斩六将 · 繁 過五關斬六將Meanings
- lit. to cross five passes and slay six generals (idiom)
- fig. to surmount all difficulties (on the way to success)
Characters in this entry
- 過
- guò · pass, pass through, go across
- 五
- wǔ · five; surname
- 關
- Look up this written character
- 斬
- Look up this written character
- 六
- liù · number six
- 將
- Look up this written character
- 过
- guò · pass, pass through, go across
- 关
- guān · frontier pass; close; relation
- 斩
- zhǎn · cut, chop, sever; behead
- 将
- jiāng · will, going to, future; general
Explore the spelling
Mandarin tones
4–3–1–3–4–4 · guo4 wu3 guan1 zhan3 liu4 jiang4
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
Connected dictionary
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.
過五關斬六將 · find source passages ↗ · 过五关斩六将 · find source passages ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 2 Cantonese readings
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
gwo1 ng5 gwaan1 zaam2 luk6 zoeng3 · gwo3 ng5 gwaan1 zaam2 luk6 zoeng3
Cantonese word readings for 過五關斬六將. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack
Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
phrase
- (figurative) to get past all manner of hardships
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack