KANAE
185Japanese idiom 四字熟語

起死回生

Kishi kaisei

“Bringing back to life what seemed dead.”

The meaning

A complete turnaround is possible even at the brink: a doomed project, a lost game, a frozen situation can restart on one right move.

At the origin

A four-character idiom, widely used in sport and business.

The characters

  1. 起死 kishiraising the dead
  2. 回生

The complete word-by-word reading, in KANAE.

In practice

Before burying a project, look for the single move that could turn it around.

Themes

Similar proverbs

  1. 184 To gain one life out of nine deaths.
  2. 002 Fall seven times, rise eight.
  3. 007 If you are in a hurry, take the long way round.
  4. 042 A kite can give birth to a hawk.
  5. 044 The doctor neglects his own health.

Related expressions

  1. 064 Early rising earns three coins of profit.
  2. 117 Standing, half a tatami; lying, one tatami.
  3. 083 The unsown seed does not grow.
  4. 088 To ask is a moment's shame; not to ask is a lifetime's shame.

See also