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上刀山，下油锅

shàng dāo shān , xià yóu guōdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. to climb mountains of swords and enter cauldrons of boiling oil (idiom) / fig. to go through trials and tribulations
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-bbe77d21a37911c0. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

上刀山，下油鍋 上刀山，下油锅 [shang4 dao1 shan1 , xia4 you2 guo1] /lit. to climb mountains of swords and enter cauldrons of boiling oil (idiom)/fig. to go through trials and tribulations/

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: 上刀山，下油鍋

  • 上
    shǎng

    used in 上聲|上声[shǎng shēng]

    shàng

    (bound form) up / upper / above / previous / first (of multiple parts) / to climb / to get onto / to go up / to attend (class or university) / (directional complement) up / (noun suffix) on / above

  • 刀
    dāo

    knife / blade / single-edged sword / cutlass (CL:把[bǎ]) / (slang) (loanword) dollar / classifier for sets of one hundred sheets (of paper) / classifier for knife cuts or stabs / (Internet slang) to bargain / to ask for a small discount (esp. on second-hand marketplaces) / (Internet slang) to knife (sb) (often used hyperbolically, as in 想刀他[xiǎng dāo tā] "I could kill him!")

    Dāo

    surname Dao

  • 山
    shān

    mountain / hill (CL:座[zuò]) / (coll.) small bundle of straw for silkworms to spin cocoons on

    Shān

    surname Shan

  • 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

  • 油
    yóu

    oil / fat / grease / petroleum / to apply tung oil, paint or varnish / oily / greasy / glib / cunning

  • 锅
    guō

    pot / pan / wok / cauldron / pot-shaped thing / CL:口[kǒu],隻|只[zhī]

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.