📖 Meaning
To travel at double pace, covering two days' journey in one day. It figuratively describes hastening one's progress and pressing rapidly onward toward a destination or goal.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase traces back to the 'Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi), Biography of Jia Kui,' where the general Jia Kui 'marched his troops at double speed (jiān dào), setting up many flags and drums as a feint force' to gain a tactical advantage during the Three Kingdoms period. The expression captures the military tactic of accelerating one's march to seize the initiative. Later writers such as Cao Xueqin in 'Dream of the Red Chamber' used the phrase to describe travelers hurrying onward without pausing to enjoy the scenery.
💡 Example Usage
为了按时抵达灾区，救援队一路兼程前进，片刻也不敢耽搁。
To reach the disaster zone on time, the rescue team pressed onward at double pace, not daring to delay for even a moment.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 兼程前进
- Pinyin: jiān chéng qián jìn
- Literal Translation: double, journey, forward, advance
- Category: Action
- Characters: 4