破釜沉舟 To Break the Pot and Sink the Boat
Description
Chengyu
破釜沉舟 (pò fǔ chén zhōu)
Characters
破 pò: Break
釜 fǔ: Pot
沉 chén: Sink
舟 zhōu: Boat
Story
項羽 (Xiàng Yǔ) was a warlord during the late 秦 (Qín) Dynasty (1). His father died at a young age so he was raised by his uncle. His uncle knew he was extraordinary because one of his eyes possess a double pupil – a mark of a ruler or sage in Chinese tradition. Indeed, Xiang Yu grew taller than 6 feet and was unusually strong. Ultimately, he declared himself 西楚霸王 Hegemon-King of Western Chu after the fall of the Qin Empire. One of Xiang Yu’s notable battles was fought at Julu (present-day Hebei).
The Battle of Julu involved the Qin Dynasty and the insurgent 楚 (Chǔ) Kingdom. At nightfall, Xiang Yu lead the Chu soldiers across the Yellow River into Qin territory. After his soldiers finished crossing, he ordered everyone to carry only 3 days worth of food and destroy their pots and boats. There was no turning back – they must defeat the enemy and seize their supplies or perish.
Indeed, Xiang Yu’s soldiers fought fiercely. Despite severely outnumbered, Xiang Yu’s soldiers crushed the 300 000 strong Qin force in 9 consecutive rounds and forced them to retreat. A few months later, Xiang Yu buried alive the surrendered Qin army.
Lesson
Xiang Yu eliminated any lingering thoughts of retreat when he ordered his troops to destroy their boats and cooking supplies. In this regard, he understood soldier psychology and morale. Hence, 破釜沉舟 (pò fǔ chén zhōu) means an unwavering determination to achieve a goal – similar to the expression, “To burn one’s bridges”. However, their meanings are slightly different in that 破釜沉舟 (pò fǔ chén zhōu) relates to bolstering resolve while the english phrase relates to keeping options open.
Another chengyu, 臥薪嚐膽 (wò xīn cháng dǎn), has a similar meaning. Both proverbs relate to goal achievement. However, 臥薪嚐膽 (wò xīn cháng dǎn) emphasizes the necessity of pain and perseverance while 破釜沉舟 pòfǔchénzhōu is about removing second thoughts. For instance, imagine a man who just ran 100 meters in under 10 seconds. 臥薪嚐膽 (wò xīn cháng dǎn) would emphasize how he consistently trained for years to achieve such a feat. 破釜沉舟 (pò fǔ chén zhōu) would focus on the raging bull behind him.
Research
People usually prefer decisions that can be reversed at a later date (2). However, the option to reverse a decision can actually lead to regret and lower satisfaction (2). Lower satisfaction is then correlated with poorer performance (3). Hence, Xiang Yu ensured his soldiers were satisfied with their decision to fight so that their fighting prowess would be at their greatest.
Further for irreversible decisions, positive aspects of the chosen decision and negative aspects of the rejected alternative remain salient (4). In Xiang Yu’s case, deciding to fight was easy because the alternative was death. Conversely for reversible decisions, positive aspects of the rejected alternative remain salient and may result in counterfactual thinking (5). For example, if Xiang Yu’s troops didn’t burn their boats, they may think, “What if I just retreat and live with my family happily ever after?”
- Sima Qian. Records of the Grand Historian. Translated from the Shih chi of Ssu-ma Ch’ien by Burton Watson. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961, ISBN 0-231-08165-0.
- Gilbert, D. T., & Ebert, J. E. J. (2002). Decisions and revisions: The affective forecasting of changeable outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 503−514.
- M. Petty, M & W. McGee, Gail & W. Cavender, Jerry. (1984). A Meta-Analysis of the Relationships between Individual Job Satisfaction and Individual Performance. The Academy of Management Review.
- Liberman, N., & Förster, J. (2006). Inferences from decision difficulty. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 42, 290−302.
- Epstude, K., & Roese, N. J. (2008). The functional theory of counterfactual thinking. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 12, 168−192.
Image credits:
- Yu Ninjie, CC BY-SA 3.0, Qin empire 210 BCE, 2 September 2005, retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=305427
- TUBS, CC BY-SA 3.0, Hebei in China, 15 September 2011, retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hebei_in_China_(%2Ball_claims_hatched).svg
The post 破釜沉舟 To Break the Pot and Sink the Boat appeared first on 古代成语 Ancient Chengyu.
United States
