📖 Meaning
To have lost one's basis for advancing or retreating. It describes a situation where one has nowhere to turn and is caught in a dilemma. Often used when someone faces a predicament with no good option in either direction.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the 'Biography of Fan Ying' in the Book of the Later Han (后汉书·樊英传). Fan Ying was a renowned scholar of the Eastern Han dynasty who initially refused to serve the emperor, risking his life to protest imperial policies. Yet once he accepted official titles and salary, he failed to offer any corrective advice to the throne. The historian criticized him, saying that in both refusing and accepting, he had no proper basis for his actions—hence '进退失据'. The phrase later came to describe anyone trapped between options with no solid ground to stand on.
💡 Example Usage
局势骤变，敌军进退失据，只得弃城而逃。
The situation shifted suddenly, and the enemy troops, having lost all basis for advancing or retreating, had no choice but to abandon the city and flee.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 进退失据
- Pinyin: jìn tuì shī jù
- Literal Translation: advance, retreat, lose, basis
- Category: Condition
- Characters: 4