CHENGYU
势如破竹(shì rú pò zhú)meaning, story and origin
- Register:
- formal
- Source:
- 《晋书·杜预传》
MEANING
- Literal
- like splitting bamboo
- Figurative meaning
- irresistible momentum; sweeping from victory to victory
ORIGIN STORY
Urging the Jin court to press its attack on Wu, general Du Yu said: "The army's spirit is now like splitting bamboo — once the first joints give way, the whole stalk opens before the blade."
NATURAL EQUIVALENT
“to go from strength to strength”
EXAMPLES
中国队势如破竹，一路打进决赛。Zhōngguó duì shì rú pò zhú, yílù dǎ jìn juésài.HSK6
The Chinese team split through like bamboo, all the way to the final.
新产品上市后势如破竹，很快占领了市场。Xīn chǎnpǐn shàngshì hòu shì rú pò zhú, hěn kuài zhànlǐng le shìchǎng.HSK6
The new product swept the market like a blade through bamboo.
COMMON MISTAKE
Watch out: It describes momentum and speed of progress, not the difficulty of the task.
CHARACTER BREAKDOWN
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TRUST & SOURCES
- Reviewed by
- AI-assisted editorial review
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-15
- CC-CEDICT 2026-01-01