前功尽弃

Pronunciation: qián gōng jìn qì Literal meaning: Previous achievements abandoned

Origin & Usage

Su Li went to the ruler of Zhou with an argument to be put to the Qin general Bai Qi, then at the height of a run of victories. Chu had an archer, Yang Youji, who could split a willow leaf at a hundred paces a hundred times over — but let him miss once at the end and 前功尽矣, the whole record counts for nothing. Press this campaign, the argument ran, and your earlier merit (前功) is entirely (尽) discarded (弃); better to plead illness and stay in. The Strategies of the Warring States records this as advice spoken at the Zhou court, not as a letter. The phrase describes not ordinary failure but the specific case where stopping short, or one late error, cancels everything already banked.

Examples

English: "After all the hard work, losing the final match felt like throwing everything away."

Chinese: 经过所有的努力，最后一场比赛的失利让人觉得前功尽弃。