碧血 (bìxuè): blood shed in a just cause

Meanings

1 blood shed in a just cause
2 blood of a martyr

Characters

碧

bì

jade-green, bluish-green

血

xuè

blood

Examples

革命先烈的碧血染红了这片土地。

Gémìng xiānliè de bìxuè rǎnhóng le zhè piàn tǔdì.

The martyrs' righteous blood stained this land red.

他用碧血丹心报效国家。

Tā yòng bìxuè dānxīn bàoxiào guójiā.

With righteous blood and a loyal heart, he served his country.

Tips

history

From the Zhuangzi 庄子 (Zhuāngzǐ) story of Chang Hong 苌弘 (Cháng Hóng), a loyal Zhou minister wrongly executed; his blood, buried for three years, was said to turn into 碧玉 (bìyù, jade-green stone). 碧血 became literary shorthand for unjust death in service of righteousness.

register

Strongly literary and elevated. You will see it on monuments, in eulogies, and in the fixed phrase 碧血丹心 (bìxuè dānxīn, righteous blood and loyal heart) — not in everyday speech.