图穷匕见 tú qióng bǐ xiàn

In use

The moment the real intention finally shows

Literally

the map runs out and the dagger appears

Pinyin

tú qióng bǐ xiàn

The gap between those first two lines is the whole point of a chengyu. It is quoted whole, never assembled, and the literal reading is a picture from the story below rather than a definition — which is why translating the four characters one at a time rarely gets you there.

Jing Ke came to the King of Qin as an envoy, unrolling a map of territory to be ceded. Rolled inside it was a poisoned dagger, and as the last of the map came open the blade lay exposed. He lunged, missed, and the king lived to unify China.

Source: 《战国策》Strategies of the Warring States, c. 1st century BC

The reading shown is the one each character takes inside this idiom — chengyu keep older readings, so it is not always the everyday one. The meanings are read from the same dictionary that powers the translators.

Want the stroke order for one of these? Each character links to its dictionary entry, which animates it.

These share a character with 图穷匕见 or come from the same classical source, so the characters you have just learned pay off straight away.

What does 图穷匕见 mean?

图穷匕见 is pronounced tú qióng bǐ xiàn and means the moment the real intention finally shows. Literally it says "the map runs out and the dagger appears" — like most chengyu, the literal reading is a picture from a story rather than a definition.

Where does 图穷匕见 come from?

《战国策》Strategies of the Warring States, c. 1st century BC. Jing Ke came to the King of Qin as an envoy, unrolling a map of territory to be ceded. Rolled inside it was a poisoned dagger, and as the last of the map came open the blade lay exposed. He lunged, missed, and the king lived to unify China.

How do you pronounce 图穷匕见?

tú qióng bǐ xiàn. Press the audio button on this page to hear it spoken by a native voice. Tones here are citation tones, so 一 is written yī even where it is said yí in running speech.

What do the characters in 图穷匕见 mean?

图 (tú) Diagram (picture - drawing - chart - plan), 穷 (qióng) Poor (exhausted), 匕 (bǐ) Dagger, 见 (xiàn) See (meet - visible - appear). These meanings come from the same dictionary as the translators on this site, and the reading shown is the one the character takes inside this idiom.

Is 图穷匕见 still used today?

Yes. Chengyu are not archaic — they are ordinary educated speech, and they turn up in conversation, newspapers and exams. This one sits in the advanced band, which reflects how common it is and how hard its characters are.