破釜沉舟

Chinese

		to break; to split; broken to break; to split; broken; damaged; worn out	kettle; cauldron	submerge; immerse; sink submerge; immerse; sink; deep; profound; to lower; to drop	boat
trad. (破釜沉舟)		破	釜	沉	舟
simp. #(破釜沉舟)		破	釜	沉	舟
Literally: “break the (cooking) pots and sink the boat”.

Etymology

In reference to an incident which occurred during the Battle of Julu.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): pòfǔchénzhōu

  (Zhuyin): ㄆㄛˋ ㄈㄨˇ ㄔㄣˊ ㄓㄡ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): po³ fu² cam⁴ zau¹
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): phò͘-hú tîm-chiu

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: pòfǔchénzhōu
    • Zhuyin: ㄆㄛˋ ㄈㄨˇ ㄔㄣˊ ㄓㄡ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: pòfǔchénjhou
    • Wade–Giles: pʻo⁴-fu³-chʻên²-chou¹
    • Yale: pwò-fǔ-chén-jōu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: pohfuuchernjou
    • Palladius: пофучэньчжоу (pofučɛnʹčžou)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰu̯ɔ⁵¹ fu²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂʰən³⁵ ʈ͡ʂoʊ̯⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: po³ fu² cam⁴ zau¹
    • Yale: po fú chàhm jāu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: po³ fu² tsam⁴ dzau¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: po³ fu² cem⁴ zeo¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰɔː³³ fuː³⁵ t͡sʰɐm²¹ t͡sɐu̯⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: phò͘-hú tîm-chiu
    • Tâi-lô: phòo-hú tîm-tsiu
    • Phofsit Daibuun: phorhuo dimciw
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /pʰɔ⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ hu⁵⁵⁴⁻²⁴ tim²⁴⁻²² t͡siu³³/

Idiom

(deprecated template usage) 破釜沉舟

1. to burn one's boats; to cross the Rubicon; to reach the point of no return

References

• Battle of Julu on Wikipedia.Wikipedia