一敗塗地

Chinese

one; single; a
one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)
 
 be defeated; to defeat; loss to smear; daub
earth; ground; field
earth; ground; field; place; land; (subor. part. adverbial); ‑ly
 
trad. (一敗塗地) 一 敗 塗 地
simp. (一败涂地) 一 败 涂 地
Literally: “failed and wiped over the floor”.

Etymology

From the Book of Han, Book 1 (《漢書•高帝紀第一上》):

高祖曰：「天下方擾，諸侯並起，令置將不善，一敗塗地。吾非敢自愛，恐能薄，不能完父兄子弟。此大事，願更擇可者。」 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
高祖曰：「天下方扰，诸侯并起，令置将不善，一败涂地。吾非敢自爱，恐能薄，不能完父兄子弟。此大事，愿更择可者。」 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
From: The Book of Han, circa 1st century CE
Gāozǔ yuē: “Tiānxià fāng rǎo, zhūhóu bìngqǐ, lìng zhì jiāng bùshàn, yī bài tú dì. Wú fēi gǎn zì'ài, kǒng néng bó, bùnéng wán fùxiōng zǐdì. Cǐ dàshì, yuàn gēng zé kě zhě.” [Pinyin]
Kao-tsu said, "At present the world is in disorder. The nobles have all risen. If now you should set as your commander someone who is not capable, after a single defeat, you will be trampled to the ground. It is not that I am concerned about my own safety; I fear that I am not capable enough and that I shall not be able to keep you safe, elders and brothers. This is an important matter. I hope that you will select again a more capable person."

According to Yan Shigu's annotation, here 塗地 / 涂地 is but an abbreviation of 肝腦塗地／肝脑涂地 (gānnǎotúdì).

Pronunciation

Idiom

一敗塗地

  1. to suffer a crushing defeat
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