ˋzhìzhīˇㄉㄧˋˊérㄏㄡˋhòuㄕㄥshēng

  1. 形容置身退路境地勢必向前生存參見陷之死地而後生三國演義·九五》:孫子置之死地而後生。』汲水豈不死戰。」

place sb on a field of death and he will fight to live (idiom based on Sunzi's "The Art of War" 孫子兵法[Sun1 zi3 Bing1 fa3])​; to fight desperately when confronting mortal danger, fig. to find a way out of an impasse