📖 Meaning
To draw one's sword and rush to someone's aid, typically by stepping in when someone is being treated unjustly or bullied. It describes coming to the defense of the weak and standing up for justice without hesitation, as celebrated in old chivalric novels.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom traces back to the Song dynasty Chan Buddhist text Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp (景德传灯录), compiled by the monk Daoyuan (释道元). In volume 22, a master is recorded saying, 'Seeing injustice on the road, one therefore grasps the sword' (路见不平，所以按剑), an image that gave rise to the idea of drawing a weapon to right wrongs. The phrase was later popularized in classical novels, where heroes 'draw their swords to help' the oppressed. It also appears in the first act of the Yuan dynasty playwright Ma Zhiyuan's (马致远) play Chen Tuan on the Lofty Couch (陈抟高卧).
💡 Example Usage
看到同学被欺负，他立刻拔刀相助。
Seeing his classmate being bullied, he immediately drew his sword to help.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 拔刀相助
- Pinyin: bá dāo xiāng zhù
- Literal Translation: draw, sword, mutually, help
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4