pī jīng zhǎn jí

Traditional: 披荊斬棘

披荆斩棘 (pī jīng zhǎn jí) is a Chinese word meaning “lit. to cut one's way through thistles and thorns (idiom); fig. to overcome all obstacles on the way; to break through hardships”.

Meanings

  1. 1lit. to cut one's way through thistles and thorns (idiom)
  2. 2fig. to overcome all obstacles on the way
  3. 3to break through hardships
  4. 4to blaze a new trail

Characters in 披荆斩棘

披pī · to drape over one's shoulders荆jīng · chaste tree or its berry (Vitex agnus-castus)斩zhǎn · to behead (as form of capital punishment)棘jí · thorns

Related words

披to drape over one's shoulders棘手thorny (problem)披萨(loanword) pizza斩to behead (as form of capital punishment)披风cloak披肩cape斩首to behead; to decapitate荆棘thistles and thorns披露to reveal所向披靡(idiom) to sweep everything before one; to be invincible斩草除根to cut weeds and eliminate the roots (idiom); to destroy root and branch斩断to cut off

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