Idiom Explanation:
Spare no effort, to use all one’s strength and not to reserve it at all.
Pronunciation:
不遗余力
bù yí yú lì
Origin:
西汉·刘向《战国策·赵策三》：“秦之攻我也，不遗余力矣，必以倦而归也。”
Story:
In 260 B.C., the king of Qin sent his general Bai Qi to defeat 400,000 Zhao troops led by Zhao Kuo at Changping, Zhao. The king of Qin took the opportunity to blackmail the king of Zhao, asking Zhao to cede six cities to Qin as a condition for peace.
The king of Zhao hastily summoned his general Lou Chang and his minister Yu Qing to discuss countermeasures: “We have lost the battle of Changping, I want to lead all my men to fight the Qin army to the death, what do you think?” “It is useless to do so, it is better to send a close ambassador to make peace.” Lou Chang said.
Yu Qing disagreed with Lou Chang’s proposition and asked the king of Zhao, “Your Majesty, does Qin want to destroy our Zhao army this time, or will we fight and go back?” The king of Zhao said, “Qin has sent out its entire military force this time and spared no effort to attack us, so of course it intends to destroy us.” “Then, we should take valuable gifts to Chu and Wei. They are greedy for possessions and will surely receive us. In this way, Qin, thinking that we are practicing the strategy of ‘unity’, will panic and will make peace with us.”
But the king of Zhao did not listen to Yu Qing’s advice and sent an envoy to Qin to seek peace anyway.
When Yu Qing heard about this, he said to the king of Zhao, “This time the peace plea will certainly not succeed, because the king of Qin and the minister Fan Ju must spread the word about Zhao’s peace plea so that all countries will know about it. If the kingdoms of Chu and Wei thought that Zhao and Qin had made peace, they would not come to Zhao’s aid. When Qin sees that no one is coming to Zhao’s rescue, then it will no longer need to make peace with Zhao either.”
As Yu Qing predicted, Zhao’s peace request was not only unsuccessful, but the capital city of Handan was besieged by Qin troops. In the end, the king of Zhao had to go to Qin himself and make a peace treaty that was so unfavorable to Zhao that it was laughed at by the whole world.
Similar Idioms:
- 全力以赴
