毁车杀马 — “To abandon one's carriage and kill one's horse”

Q: What is the Chinese definition of 毁车杀马?

废弃车马。喻归隐意志坚决。

毁车杀马 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to abandon one's carriage and kill one's horse”. A metaphor for a firm resolve to withdraw from official life and live as a recluse, emphasizing a complete severance from worldly ambitions. Literally, “Destroy/abandon chariots and kill horses”.

Frequency

毁车杀马 Pronunciation and Pinyin

毁车杀马 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
毁	huǐ	13	destroy, damage, ruin
车	chē	4	wheeled vehicle
杀	shā	6	to kill
马	mǎ	3	horse, big, large

Example Sentence with 毁车杀马

他厌倦了世俗的纷扰，决定毁车杀马，归隐山林，追求内心的平静。

He grew weary of worldly strife and decided to abandon his carriage and kill his horse, retreating to the mountains to seek inner peace.

Origin and Story of 毁车杀马

During the Han Dynasty, Feng Liang, at the age of 30, served as a subordinate officer. He detested being commanded by others in his official capacity.

One day, he was ordered to welcome a supervising inspector. Along the journey, he was filled with profound emotions. Due to the poor road conditions, his carriage broke down. He simply abandoned his broken carriage, even killed his horse, and then removed his official robes.

From that point on, he withdrew from public life, settling in Jianwei to study under Du Fu, living the life of a recluse.