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重整旗鼓 (chóng zhěng qí gǔ) — to rally one's forces after a defeat; to start over with renewed effort

Definition

A four-character idiom meaning to regroup and resume the fight after a setback. Conveys renewing effort and starting fresh with restored morale.

idiom
to rally one's forces after a defeatto start over with renewed effort

Examples

  • ，重整旗鼓，。
    Suī rán shàng cì bǐ sài shū le, dàn tā men jué dìng chóng zhěng qí gǔ, míng nián zài lái.
    Although they lost the last competition, they decided to rally their forces and come back next year.
  • ，重整旗鼓，。
    Gōng sī pò chǎn hòu, tā chóng zhěng qí gǔ, chuàng lì le yì jiā xīn qǐ yè.
    After the company went bankrupt, he regrouped and founded a new business.
  • ，重整旗鼓，。
    Shī bài bìng bù kě pà, zhòng yào de shì néng chóng zhěng qí gǔ, jì xù qián jìn.
    Failure is not scary; what matters is being able to start over and keep moving forward.

Origin

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
人人rénman
Sound part声符shēngfú
東
東dōng重zhòng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

重 developed from a picture of a man carrying a bag, with 人 for the man and 東 for the bag; a later ground element was folded into the form.

Open 重 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
敕敕chì
Sound part声符shēngfú
正
正zhèng整zhěng
Same sound today

整 pairs 敕 as the meaning side with 正 as the sound side.

Open 整 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
㫃㫃㫃flag
Sound part声符shēngfú
其
其qí旗qí
Same sound today

旗 pairs 㫃, a flag, with 其, which gives the pronunciation qí.

Open 旗 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 壴壴zhùdrum
  • 支支zhīhand holding drumstick

鼓 combines 壴, a drum, with 支, a hand holding a drumstick, so the character pictures a drum being struck.

Open 鼓 →
Appears in
Idioms & Set PhrasesSuccess & Failure

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