出师不利 chū shī bù lì Unfavorable Start

Explanation

指事情一开始就不顺利，多用于军事战争方面。

Refers to the fact that things are not going well from the very beginning, often used in the context of military warfare.

Origin Story

话说三国时期，蜀汉丞相诸葛亮为了实现兴复汉室的大业，多次北伐魏国。第一次北伐，诸葛亮率领大军出征，却遭遇了魏军强力的抵抗，损失惨重，未能取得预期的胜利，这便是“出师不利”的典故。北伐的道路充满了艰辛和挑战，诸葛亮在出师之前，便已预料到北伐的艰难，但他仍然坚持自己的理想和信念，毅然决然地带领将士们踏上了征程。这次出师不利，虽然使蜀汉元气大伤，但也让诸葛亮更加深刻地认识到了魏国的实力，为以后的北伐积累了宝贵的经验。此后，诸葛亮又进行了多次北伐，虽然取得了一些胜利，但最终都没能实现统一全国的目标。

shuō huà sānguó shíqī, shǔ hàn chéngxiàng zhūgě liàng wèile shíxiàn xīngfù hàn shì de dà yè, duō cì běi fá wèi guó. dì yī cì běi fá, zhūgě liàng shuài lǐng dàjūn chū zhēng, què zāoyù le wèi jūn qiáng lì de dǐkàng, sǔnshī cǎnzhòng, wèi néng qǔdé yùqī de shènglì, zhè biàn shì “chū shī bù lì” de diǎngù. běi fá de dàolù chōngmǎn le jiānxīn hé tiǎozhàn, zhūgě liàng zài chū shī zhī qián, biàn yǐ yùliào dào běi fá de jiānnán, dàn tā réngrán jiānchí zìjǐ de lǐxiǎng hé xìnyàn, yìrán juéruǎn de dàilǐng jiàngshì men tà shàng le zhēngchéng. zhè cì chū shī bù lì, suīrán shǐ shǔ hàn yuánqì dà shāng, dàn yě ràng zhūgě liàng gèng shēnkè de rènshí dào le wèi guó de shí lì, wèi yǐhòu de běi fá jīlěi le bǎoguì de jīngyàn. cǐ hòu, zhūgě liàng yòu jìnxíng le duō cì běi fá, suīrán qǔdé le yīxiē shènglì, dàn zuìzhōng dōu méi néng shíxiàn tǒngyī quán guó de mùbiāo.

During the Three Kingdoms period in China, Zhuge Liang, the chancellor of Shu Han, led several northern expeditions against the Wei kingdom to revive the Han dynasty. In his first expedition, he encountered strong resistance from the Wei army, suffered heavy losses, and failed to achieve victory, giving rise to the idiom "chū shī bù lì" (unfavorable start). The road to the north was fraught with hardship and challenges. Zhuge Liang had foreseen the difficulty of the expedition, yet he remained steadfast in his ideals and beliefs, leading his soldiers into battle. The initial setback, though damaging to Shu Han, provided Zhuge Liang with a profound understanding of Wei's strength and valuable lessons for future campaigns. He launched many more expeditions afterward. Although they yielded some victories, ultimately he could not unify China.

Usage

用于形容事情刚开始就遇到挫折或失败。

yòng yú xiángróng shìqíng gāng kāishǐ jiù yùdào cuòzé huò shībài

Used to describe a situation where things encounter setbacks or failures from the very beginning.

Examples

• 创业初期,公司接连遭受打击,真是出师不利。

  chuàngyè chūqī,gōngsī jiēlián zāoshòu dǎjī,zhēnshi chūshī bùlì.

  The company suffered consecutive setbacks in its early stages, which was a bad start.

• 这次考试，我出师不利，第一题就做错了。

  zhè cì kǎoshì,wǒ chūshī bùlì,dì yī tí jiù zuòcuò le

  I had a bad start to the exam, getting the first question wrong.

Related Idioms

• 屡战屡败

• 事与愿违

Opposite Idioms

• 旗开得胜

• 开门红