置之死地而后生
zhì zhī sǐ dì ér hòu shēng
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1 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|孙子兵法[Sūn zǐ Bīng fǎ]); to fight desperately when confronting mortal danger
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2 fig. to find a way out of an impasse