万不得已 wàn bù dé yǐ Have no choice but to

Explanation

“万不得已”这个成语的意思是指“迫不得已，不得不如此”。它通常用来形容在没有其他选择的情况下，只能采取某种行动，即使这个行动并不令人满意。

"Wàn bù dé yǐ" is a Chinese idiom that means "have no choice but to", "be forced to". It is often used to describe a situation where one has to take an action even though it is not ideal, because there is no other option.

Origin Story

战国时期，齐国有一位名叫田忌的将军，他与强大的秦国作战，战况十分不利。眼看着秦军就要攻破齐国的城池，田忌的部下都陷入了绝望之中。此时，田忌的军师孙膑献计：“将军，我们可以利用敌人的弱点，将计就计，反败为胜。”田忌问：“敌人有什么弱点？”孙膑回答：“秦军善于正面攻击，却害怕绕后偷袭。”田忌听后，万不得已之下，决定采用孙膑的计策。他命令军队佯装撤退，引诱秦军追击，然后突然掉头反击，大败秦军。这场战役的胜利，不仅保住了齐国，也使田忌的名声大振。

zhàn guó shí qī, qí guó yǒu yī wèi jìng míng tián jì de jiāng jūn, tā yǔ qiáng dà de qín guó zhàn zhàn, zhàn kuàng shí fēn bù lì. yǎn kàn zhe qín jūn jiù yào gōng pò qí guó de chéng chí, tián jì de bù xià dōu xiàn rù jué wàng zhī zhōng. cǐ shí, tián jì de jūn shī sūn bìn xiàn jì: “jiāng jūn, wǒ men kě yǐ lì yòng dí rén de ruò diǎn, jiāng jì jiù jì, fǎn bài wèi shèng.” tián jì wèn: “dí rén yǒu shén me ruò diǎn?” sūn bìn huí dá: “qín jūn shàn yú zhèng miàn gōng jī, què pà hà rào hòu tōu xī.” tián jì tīng hòu, wàn bù dé yǐ zhī xià, jué dìng cǎi yòng sūn bìn de jì cè. tā mìng lìng jūn duì yǎng zhuāng tuì zhì, yǐn yòu qín jūn zhuī jī, rán hòu tū rán diào tóu fǎn jī, dà bài qín jūn. zhè chǎng zhàn yì de shèng lì, bù jǐn bǎo zhù le qí guó, yě shǐ tián jì de míng shēng dà zhèn.

During the Warring States period in China, there was a general named Tian Ji who was fighting against the powerful Qin kingdom. The situation was very unfavorable for Tian Ji's troops. It seemed that the Qin army was about to capture the city of Qi, and Tian Ji's soldiers were in despair. At this time, Tian Ji's strategist Sun Bin came up with a plan:

Usage

“万不得已”这个成语常用于表达无奈之举，它通常指在没有其他选择的情况下，不得不采取某种行动。例如，当我们在工作中遇到难题，想尽办法都无法解决时，就可以说：“万不得已，只能向领导求助了。”

wàn bù dé yǐ zhè ge chéng yǔ cháng yòng yú biǎo dá wú nài zhī jǔ, tā tóng cháng zhǐ zài méi yǒu qí tā xuǎn zé de qíng kuàng xià, bù dé bù cǎi qǔ mǒu zhǒng xíng dòng

“Wàn bù dé yǐ” is often used to express an action taken out of necessity. It typically refers to a situation where one has no other choice but to take a certain action. For example, when we encounter a problem at work and we can't find a solution, we can say:

Examples

• 为了完成这个项目，我们万不得已加班加点，牺牲了周末休息时间。

  wàn bù dé yǐ de qíng kuàng xià, wǒ zhǐ néng xuǎn zé jiē shòu zhè fèn gōng zuò, jìn guǎn xīn shuǐ bù gāo

  We had to work overtime and sacrifice our weekend rest time to complete this project.

• 万不得已的情况下，我只能选择接受这份工作，尽管薪水不高。

  wàn bù dé yǐ de qíng kuàng xià, wǒ zhǐ néng xuǎn zé jiē shòu zhè fèn gōng zuò, jìn guǎn xīn shuǐ bù gāo

  In this case, I had no choice but to accept the job, even though the salary was not high.

Related Idioms

• 无可奈何

• 迫不得已

• 别无选择

Opposite Idioms

• 心甘情愿

• 乐意

• 愿意