九死一生

jiǔsǐyīshēng

idiom #42,451

Meanings

1 nine chances to die, one to live
2 a narrow escape from death; to barely survive

Characters

Examples

他在那场车祸中九死一生。

Tā zài nà chǎng chēhuò zhōng jiǔsǐyīshēng.

He barely escaped death in that car crash.

战场上，他九死一生才活着回来。

Zhànchǎng shàng, tā jiǔsǐyīshēng cái huózhe huílái.

On the battlefield he survived nine brushes with death to make it home alive.

这次探险九死一生，千万别掉以轻心。

Zhè cì tànxiǎn jiǔsǐyīshēng, qiānwàn bié diàoyǐqīngxīn.

This expedition is nine parts death to one of life — don't take it lightly.

Tips

history

From Qu Yuan's 《离骚》 (Warring States Chu): '虽九死其犹未悔' — 'though I die nine deaths I would still not regret.' The Tang commentator Liu Liang glossed it as '九死无一生' — 'nine deaths with not one chance of life' — fixing the proportional reading that the idiom keeps today.

memory

The 九 (nine) is not literal — it's the classical way of saying 'many.' Read it as 'out of ten chances, nine say die, one says live' — a 90% death rate.

Stroke Order

九 jiǔ

死 sǐ

一 yī

生 shēng