Chinese idiom · 成语
同舟共济
Meaning
To cross a river in the same boat; to work together in adversity.
Character by character
Origin and story
Military analogySunzi (孫子), Jiu Di (九地), argues that an army should respond with the coordination of a single body. As an example, it imagines people from hostile Wu and Yue sharing a boat. If wind strikes during the crossing, they help each other as naturally as one hand helps the other, despite their hostility.
This is an illustrative situation within a military argument. The idiom develops from the passage’s wording about crossing in the same boat. In broader use it urges people whose circumstances are linked to cooperate through danger or hardship.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
公司遇到困难时，几个部门放下分歧，同舟共济。
When the company ran into difficulties, the departments put aside their differences and worked through them together.
Emphasizes shared difficulty and mutual support.