鞠躬尽瘁

Pronunciation: jū gōng jìn cuì Literal meaning: Bow and exhaust oneself completely

Origin & Usage

To bend the body (鞠躬) and spend oneself utterly (尽瘁). The line is from Zhuge Liang's second memorial before marching north: your servant will bow himself to the task and give out his whole strength, and stop only at death — and whether it ends in success or failure is not something his foresight can reach. That last clause is usually dropped and is the reason the phrase is moving: the pledge is made without any assurance it will work. It is normally quoted whole as 鞠躬尽瘁，死而后已.

Examples

English: "He devoted his entire life to public service until his last breath."

Chinese: 他鞠躬尽瘁，为公共服务奉献一生。