卷土重来 — “To stage a comeback”

During the Chu-Han Contention, Liu Bang ultimately emerged victorious. He besieged Xiang Yu, and although the Hegemon-King of Chu later broke through the encirclement, he was left with only twenty-eight ragged soldiers. They fled to Wujiang (present-day Wujiang Town, Anhui Province). Thousands of Han soldiers relentlessly pursued them.

At this point, the Wujiang pavilion chief came in a small boat to meet Xiang Yu, saying: 'Though Jiangdong is small, it has a thousand li of land and hundreds of thousands of people. You can still become king in Jiangdong. Please, quickly board the boat and cross the river!' Xiang Yu smiled bitterly and replied: 'Heaven wills my destruction; what's the point of crossing the river? Moreover, the eight thousand Jiangdong youths who crossed the river with me to the west are all gone now, not a single one returned. Even if the elders of Jiangdong would still support me as king, after reaching such a state today, how could I have the face to meet them?'

After saying this, Xiang Yu immediately drew his sword and committed suicide.

Later, Du Mu visited the place where Xiang Yu died and was filled with emotion. In his poem 'Inscription on Wujiang Pavilion' (《题乌江亭》), the line '卷土重来未可知' (whether he could have returned with a vengeance is unknown) expresses his lament that if Xiang Yu had not committed suicide then, but had instead crossed the river to gather strength and contended with Liu Bang again, then it would be hard to say who would have won.