请缨

請纓

qǐngyīng

verb #35,953

Meanings

1 to volunteer (for a difficult mission, esp. military)
2 to ask to be assigned a tough job
3 to offer one's services

Characters

to request; ask for

tassel; long rope (here)

Examples

疫情爆发后，许多医生主动请缨上前线。

Yìqíng bàofā hòu, xǔduō yīshēng zhǔdòng qǐngyīng shàng qiánxiàn.

After the outbreak, many doctors volunteered to go to the front line.

他向领导请缨负责这个项目。

Tā xiàng lǐngdǎo qǐngyīng fùzé zhè ge xiàngmù.

He volunteered to his boss to take on this project.

Tips

history

Comes from the 'Book of Han' (《汉书·终军传》): in the Western Han, the young envoy 终军 (Zhōng Jūn) requested 'a long rope' (长缨, cháng yīng) to bind the king of Nanyue and bring him back to court — 请缨 literally means 'to request a rope.' Two thousand years on, it's still the standard way to say 'voluntarily ask for a tough mission,' especially in patriotic and emergency-response contexts.

Stroke Order

请 qǐng

缨 yīng