









不能自拔 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Unable to extricate oneself from a difficult, painful, or undesirable situation; unable to get out of a predicament, often referring to being deeply engrossed in a bad habit, an emotional state, or a predicament”. Literally, “unable to pull oneself out”.
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Xue An, the Governor of Xuzhou, and Shen Wenxiu, the Governor of Qingzhou, rebelled against Emperor Ming of Song, raising an army in Dongyang City. The entire Liu clan was trapped within the city, unable to extricate themselves.
They tried every means to escape Dongyang City, found Liu Huaigong, the Grand Administrator of Beihai at the time, and others, united forces, and successfully captured Dongyang City in one swift action, quashing the rebellion and forcing Shen Wenxiu to surrender.

Picture and word Bingo for your class
Open the tool →
Printable tracing sheets with a QR learning companion
Open the tool →
Choose character parts and animate their colors, together or in stroke order
Open the tool →
Chinese and English fill-in vocabulary worksheets
Open the tool →不能自拔 (bù néng zì bá) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “Unable to extricate oneself from a difficult, painful, or undesirable situation; unable to get out of a predicament, often referring to being deeply engrossed in a bad habit, an emotional state, or a predicament”.
不能自拔 is pronounced bù néng zì bá in Mandarin Chinese.
Literally, 不能自拔 means “unable to pull oneself out”. It is used to mean “Unable to extricate oneself from a difficult, painful, or undesirable situation; unable to get out of a predicament, often referring to being deeply engrossed in a bad habit, an emotional state, or a predicament”.
不能自拔 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
拔:摆脱。不能主动地从痛苦、错误或罪恶中解脱出来。