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舍得一身剐，敢把皇帝拉下马

shě de yī shēn guǎ , gǎn bǎ huáng dì lā xià mǎdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
one who does not fear the death of thousand cuts will dare to unhorse the emperor (proverb) / to a fearless person, no fence is high enough
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-69c6cbdf78234391. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

捨得一身剮，敢把皇帝拉下馬 舍得一身剐，敢把皇帝拉下马 [she3 de5 yi1 shen1 gua3 , gan3 ba3 huang2 di4 la1 xia4 ma3] /one who does not fear the death of thousand cuts will dare to unhorse the emperor (proverb)/to a fearless person, no fence is high enough/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 捨得一身剮，敢把皇帝拉下馬

  • 舍
    shě

    to give up / to abandon / to give alms

    shè

    (bound form) residence / house / (bound form) my (in speaking of relatives younger than oneself, as in 舍妹[shè mèi]) / (archaic) unit of distance equal to 30 li 里[lǐ]

    Shè

    surname She

  • 得
    dé

    to obtain / to get / to gain / to catch (a disease) / proper / suitable / proud / contented / to allow / to permit / ready / finished

    dè

    used in 得瑟[dè se]

    de

    structural particle: used after a verb (or adjective as main verb), linking it to following phrase indicating effect, degree, possibility etc

    děi

    to have to / must / ought to / to need to

  • 一
    yī

    one / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire / whole / all / throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1) / also pr. [yāo] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit

  • 身
    shēn

    body / life / oneself / personally / one's morality and conduct / the main part of a structure or body / pregnant / classifier for sets of clothes: suit, twinset / Kangxi radical 158

  • 剐
    guǎ

    cut off the flesh as punishment

  • 敢
    gǎn

    to dare / daring / (polite) may I venture

  • 把
    bǎ

    to hold / to grasp / to hold a baby in position to help it urinate or defecate / handlebar / classifier: handful, bundle, bunch / classifier for things with handles / (used to put the object before the verb: 把[bǎ] + {noun} + {verb})

    bà

    handle

  • 皇
    huáng

    emperor

    Huáng

    surname Huang

  • 帝
    dì

    (bound form) emperor / sovereign / supreme deity

  • 拉
    lā

    to pull / to play (a bowed instrument) / to drag / to draw / to chat / (coll.) to empty one's bowels

    lá

    to make a cut in (sth) / to slit / to gash / to slash

    là

    used in 拉拉蛄[là là gǔ]

  • 下
    xià

    down / downwards / below / lower / later / next (week etc) / second (of two parts) / to decline / to go down / to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc) / measure word to show the frequency of an action

  • 马
    mǎ

    horse / CL:匹[pǐ] / horse or cavalry piece in Chinese chess / knight in Western chess

    Mǎ

    surname Ma / abbr. for Malaysia 馬來西亞|马来西亚[Mǎ lái xī yà]

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.