A dead man gains a spear

A dead man gains a spear

It is a Chinese idiom, w á NGJ ǐ D é m á o in pinyin. It means to compare what is gained with what is lost, or what is lost with what is gained. It comes from the spring and Autumn Annals of the Lu family.

Analysis of Idioms

Gain and loss

The origin of Idioms

Lu's spring and Autumn Annals: can you return when you lose your halberd and gain a spear

Idiom usage

It's a combination; it's a predicate and an attribute; it's a metaphor with gains and losses.

Idioms and allusions

The battle of an (belonging to Qi in the spring and Autumn period and now Jinan in Shandong Province) is one of the most famous battles in Zuo Zhuan, which took place in the second year of Lu Chenggong (589 BC). At the beginning, Qi won a small victory. The Marquis of Qi mistakenly thought that the Jin army was timid and vulnerable. He ordered the soldiers to have breakfast again after defeating the Jin army. At the beginning of the battle, a soldier of Qi army fell behind the troops and was rushing forward with a halberd in his hand. Suddenly, two Jin soldiers were killed from the side and stopped the way. The soldiers of Qi army were not afraid alone. They swung the halberd like flying and stabbed the Jin army fiercely. Two Jin soldiers fought bravely against the enemy, one in front of the other, and the other with Changyu. After a bitter struggle between the two sides, the soldiers of Qi army were defeated by the soldiers of Jin army. The Qi army had no weapons and turned to flee. The two Jin soldiers showed great benevolence and magnanimity. They disdained to pursue and kill the warriors who had lost their weapons, and turned around and rushed to the battlefield. When the soldiers of Qi army fled, they found spears discarded by the dead soldiers in the grass. He picked them up and prepared to fight again. He ran forward a few steps, and suddenly remembered that he would be punished according to Qi's military law if he lost weapons on the battlefield. He began to hesitate, not knowing what to do. When he was at the end of his journey, he found a figure coming slowly towards him in the distance. He thought, "you should ask others how to get out of trouble." The soldiers of Qi army ran to the man in a hurry. When they came near, they saw that the man was like a scholar. The soldiers of Qi army were overjoyed and stood by the roadside. They always held their fists and saluted. Then they respectfully asked, "excuse me, sir, I lost my halberd in the battle, but I carried a spear. Do you think I will be punished?" The scholar thought that this was not a problem, so he said without hesitation: "the halberd is a weapon, and the spear is also a weapon. If you lose the halberd, you will get a spear (if you lose the halberd, you will get a spear). You will not be punished." With that, the scholar walked away without looking back. The soldiers of Qi army are still not at ease. He thinks that a scholar can't understand military laws and regulations. He shakes his head and sighs. He still feels very embarrassed. He stood in a daze in frustration. All of a sudden, he faintly heard the sound of ringing in the distance. It turned out that the doctor of Qi who was guarding Gaotang passed by here. The soldiers of Qi army reported to the doctor the process of being defeated, and then asked if they could go back to the camp. Doctor Qi was furious and said, "halberd is halberd and spear is spear. They can't match each other. You'll be punished by military law." The soldier didn't want to be punished by the military law. At this time, Qi's army gradually declined and retreated. The Qi army insisted on fighting. His companion urged him to run for his life together. He said tragically, "it's better to kill more enemies than to go back and die under the military law. It's the nature of a soldier to die in battle." He said that, holding the determination to die, he returned to fight until he died.