📖 Meaning
To disregard one's own life and death, willing to sacrifice oneself without hesitation. It describes fearless devotion and selfless courage in the face of mortal danger, often for a cause, duty, or comrades.
📜 Origin Story
This idiom originates from the Yuan dynasty anonymous zaju play《锁魔镜》(The Demon-Locking Mirror), Act 2, where the line reads 'You must disregard life and death to establish meritorious deeds,' exhorting warriors to fight bravely without concern for survival. The phrase gained wider circulation through its appearance in Ming dynasty author Wu Cheng'en's《西游记》(Journey to the West), Chapter 2, where it describes the monkeys fighting fiercely to defend their Water Curtain Cave against a demon who tried to seize it. Together these literary uses cemented the expression as a vivid encapsulation of selfless sacrifice and fearless devotion in Chinese literary tradition.
💡 Example Usage
战士们舍死忘生，冲锋陷阵，终于攻下了敌人的阵地。
Disregarding life and death, the soldiers charged into battle and finally overran the enemy's position.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 舍死忘生
- Pinyin: shě sǐ wàng shēng
- Literal Translation: abandon death, forget life
- Category: Determination
- Characters: 4