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视死忽如归

視死忽如歸
shìsǐhūrúguī
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 regards death as casually as going home
  2. 2 (fig.) face death with perfect equanimity, as a soldier or martyr
  3. 3 (lit.) view-death suddenly-like return

Examples

那些冲上战场的将士，真是视死忽如归。
Nàxiē chōng shàng zhànchǎng de jiàngshì, zhēn shì shì sǐ hū rú guī.
Those soldiers charging onto the battlefield — truly 'regarding death as casually as going home.'
英雄烈士视死忽如归的气概，值得永远铭记。
Yīngxióng lièshì shì sǐ hū rú guī de qìgài, zhídé yǒngyuǎn míngjì.
The heroes' and martyrs' bearing — 'taking death as a going-home' — deserves eternal remembrance.

Tips

history
From 曹植《白马篇》(Cao Zhi, White Horse Ballad, early 3rd c., Three Kingdoms). Describing an idealized young frontier horseman: 捐躯赴国难，视死忽如归 (He flings away his body to answer the state's calamity — regarding death as casually as going home). Cao Zhi (the brilliant younger son of Cao Cao) wrote this yuefu poem to project the warrior ideal; the final couplet has been quoted in Chinese military eulogy ever since, including on modern PLA martyrs' memorials.
usage
忽 here means 'lightly, casually' (as in 忽视 'take lightly'), not 'suddenly' — the soldier treats death with the nonchalance of coming home, not as a shock. Always paired with 捐躯赴国难.

Stroke Order

视 shì
死 sǐ
忽 hū
如 rú
归 guī