Situations
百尺竿頭
백척간두
bǎi chǐ gān tóu
Baek-cheok-gan-du
百
일백 백
尺
자 척
竿
장대 간
頭
머리 두
Character by character
Meaning
At the tip of a hundred-foot pole — a position of extreme peril.
Origin
From the Chan koan urging one more step even at the pole’s very top.
How it is used
Used when there is nowhere left to retreat to.
Hanja百尺竿頭
Simplified百尺竿头
Korean reading백척간두
Pinyinbǎi chǐ gān tóu
Frequently asked questions
Q. What does Baek-cheok-gan-du mean?
百尺竿頭 · At the tip of a hundred-foot pole — a position of extreme peril.
Q. Where does Baek-cheok-gan-du come from?
From the Chan koan urging one more step even at the pole’s very top.
Q. How is Baek-cheok-gan-du used?
Used when there is nowhere left to retreat to.
Idioms in the same group
四面楚歌 Sa-myeon-cho-gaChu songs on all four sides — surrounded with nowhere to turn.進退兩難 Jin-toe-yang-nanHard to advance and hard to retreat.累卵之危 Nu-ran-ji-wiAs precarious as a stack of eggs.風前燈火 Pung-jeon-deung-hwaA lamp flame before the wind — an extremely precarious state.五里霧中 O-ri-mu-jungInside a fog five li deep — completely unable to make sense of things.雪上加霜 Seol-sang-ga-sangFrost on top of snow — one misfortune stacked on another.
The idioms used in Korea mix phrases from the Chinese classics with ones coined in Korea. Where an expression is not used in China, the entry says so.