







及锋而试 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to act when conditions are most favorable or when morale is high”. To seize an opportune moment. Literally, “Reach the peak and test”.
At the end of the Qin Dynasty, Xiang Yu proclaimed himself Overlord of Western Chu. He enfeoffed Liu Bang as the King of Han, assigning him to guard Hanzhong.
Xiang Yu provided Liu Bang with 30,000 Chu soldiers. However, when the troops arrived in Nanzheng, many Chu soldiers began to desert.
It was then that Han Xin advised Liu Bang to '及锋而试' (seize the opportune moment), suggesting that by doing so, he could achieve great accomplishments.
Liu Bang heeded Han Xin's counsel, broke his agreement, and launched an attack against Xiang Yu. He successfully contended for power and ultimately gained control of the realm.

Picture and word Bingo for your class
Open the tool →
Create PNGs with pinyin, highlight character parts or remove strokes
Open the tool →
Chinese and English fill-in vocabulary worksheets
Open the tool →
Printable tracing sheets with a QR learning companion
Open the tool →及锋而试 (jí fēng ér shì) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to act when conditions are most favorable or when morale is high”.
及锋而试 is pronounced jí fēng ér shì in Mandarin Chinese.
Literally, 及锋而试 means “Reach the peak and test”. It is used to mean “to act when conditions are most favorable or when morale is high”.
及锋而试 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
及:乘;锋:锋利,比喻士气高昂;试:试用。趁锋利的时候用它。原指乘士气高涨的时候使用军队,后比喻乘有利的时机行动。