开弓没有回头箭
Traditional form:
開弓沒有回頭箭
Pinyin (reading):
kāigōngméiyǒuhuítóujiàn
Definitions:
- lit. once you've shot the arrow, there's no getting it back (idiom)
- fig. once you started sth, there's no turning back
- to have to finish what one started
- to be determined to reach one's goals in spite of setbacks
Characters:
- 开 - to open; to start, to initiate, to begin
- 弓 - bow; curved, arched
- 没 - not, none, gone; to bury; to sink, to drown
- 有 - to have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 回 - to return, to turn around; a time
- 头 - head; chief, boss; first, top
- 箭 - arrow; a type of bamboo
Traditional characters: