Half up and half down
Half up and half down, Chinese idioms, Pinyin is B à NSH à nglu à Xi à, meaning to give up halfway. From Zhu Zi Quan Shu.
The origin of Idioms
"Zhu Zi Quan Shu" Volume 15: "sage is not willing to go up and down, straight to the end." Another volume 9: "each person has his own knowledge, which must be pushed to the extreme. Otherwise, half up and half down will not help."
Idiom usage
As object and attribute;
Half up and half down
My head is burning and my forehead is rotten - tóu jiāo é làn
perform a meritorious service to atone for one 's crimes - lì gōng shú zuì