







舍身取义 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to sacrifice one's life for a just cause”. To give up one's life for righteousness or a noble principle. Literally, “sacrifice oneself for righteousness”.
During the late Spring and Autumn period, Zhao Xiangzi, a high official, killed another high official named Zhi Bo. Yu Rang, a loyal retainer of Zhi Bo, swore to avenge his master, embodying the spirit of 'sacrificing one's life for righteousness'.
He disguised himself and infiltrated Zhao Xiangzi's residence to assassinate him, but his attempt failed. Zhao Xiangzi, impressed by Yu Rang's loyalty and courage, pardoned him.
Later, Yu Rang painted his entire body to resemble a leper and swallowed burning charcoal to alter his voice, making himself unrecognizable. He attempted to assassinate Zhao Xiangzi once more, but again he failed and subsequently took his own life.

Choose character parts and animate their colors, together or in stroke order
Open the tool →
Picture and word Bingo for your class
Open the tool →
Create PNGs with pinyin, highlight character parts or remove strokes
Open the tool →
Printable tracing sheets with a QR learning companion
Open the tool →舍身取义 (shě shēn qǔ yì) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to sacrifice one's life for a just cause”.
舍身取义 is pronounced shě shēn qǔ yì in Mandarin Chinese.
Literally, 舍身取义 means “sacrifice oneself for righteousness”. It is used to mean “to sacrifice one's life for a just cause”.
舍身取义 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
舍:舍弃;身:生命;取:求取;义;正义。指为正义而牺牲生命