Chinese idiom · 成语
捐躯赴难
Meaning
To sacrifice oneself for hardship; to die for a cause.
Character by character
Origin and story
Historical writingThe Mingshi's biography of Wu Wending includes a forceful rhetorical question about people who face overwhelming danger in loyal service. It asks who would knowingly risk destruction, even punishment extending to their families, without a commitment to sacrifice themselves in a crisis. The exact phrase 捐躯赴难 appears in that argument.
The image is not of donating something material: juan qu means giving up one's own life, and fu nan means going to meet a grave emergency. Later use retains this elevated sense of self-sacrifice, particularly in defending a country or answering a public disaster. It is a solemn expression, not a synonym for ordinary hard work.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
纪念馆里的一封封家书，让我们看到了那些捐躯赴难的年轻人的牵挂。
The letters home in the memorial museum reveal the loved ones on the minds of those young people who gave their lives in the national crisis.
Formal and commemorative; implies risking or sacrificing life for a grave cause.