







临危受命 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to accept a critical assignment or responsibility during a time of crisis or great danger; to undertake a challenging mission when circumstances are perilous”. Literally, “receive an order in times of danger”.
During the Three Kingdoms period, after the death of Liu Bei, the Emperor of Shu, his incompetent son A Dou succeeded him. A Dou indulged only in pleasure and neglected state affairs.
Zhuge Liang, on one hand, allied with Wu to attack Wei and campaigned against Meng Huo in the south, while actively preparing for two northern expeditions.
On the eve of his departure for the northern expedition, he wrote the 'First Memorial on the Northern Expedition' to A Dou. In it, he stated that he had 'accepted a critical mission in times of peril' (临危受命), and pledged to exert himself to the utmost and dedicate his life to restoring the Han dynasty until his last breath.

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Open the tool →临危受命 (lín wēi shòu mìng) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to accept a critical assignment or responsibility during a time of crisis or great danger; to undertake a challenging mission when circumstances are perilous”.
临危受命 is pronounced lín wēi shòu mìng in Mandarin Chinese.
Literally, 临危受命 means “receive an order in times of danger”. It is used to mean “to accept a critical assignment or responsibility during a time of crisis or great danger; to undertake a challenging mission when circumstances are perilous”.
临危受命 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
在危难之际接受任命。