背水一戰

See also: 背水一战

Chinese

	learn by heart; the back of the body; to be burdened learn by heart; the back of the body; to be burdened; to carry on the back or shoulder	water; river	one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)	to fight; fight; war to fight; fight; war; battle
trad. (背水一戰)	背	水	一	戰
simp. (背水一战)	背	水	一	战
Literally: “fight with one's back to the river”.

Etymology

From the Records of the Grand Historian 背水陣／背水阵 (bèishuǐzhèn) (originally 背水陳, literally "arrange the battle array with soldiers' back to the river", 陳／陈 (chén) is an ancient variant of 陣／阵 (zhèn)).

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): bèishuǐ-yīzhàn

(Zhuyin): ㄅㄟˋ ㄕㄨㄟˇ ㄧㄓㄢˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): bui³ seoi² jat¹ zin³

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: bèishuǐ-yīzhàn [Phonetic: bèishuǐ-yízhàn]
  - Zhuyin: ㄅㄟˋ ㄕㄨㄟˇ ㄧㄓㄢˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: bèishuěiyijhàn
  - Wade–Giles: pei⁴-shui³-i¹-chan⁴
  - Yale: bèi-shwěi-yī-jàn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: beyshoeiijann
  - Palladius: бэйшуйичжань (bɛjšujičžanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /peɪ̯⁵¹ ʂu̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ i⁵⁵⁻³⁵ ʈ͡ʂän⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: bui³ seoi² jat¹ zin³
  - Yale: bui séui yāt jin
  - Cantonese Pinyin: bui³ soey² jat⁷ dzin³
  - Guangdong Romanization: bui³ sêu² yed¹ jin³
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /puːi̯³³ sɵy̯³⁵ jɐt̚⁵ t͡siːn³³/

Idiom

背水一戰

to be forced to stand and fight; to make a desperate last stand