lose a pawn to save a castle(diū zú bǎo jū)

lose a pawn to save a castle

It is a Chinese idiom, Pinyin is di ū Z ú B ǎ OJ ū, originally a chess term. When playing chess, in order to keep the car and lose the pawn, metaphor to keep the main and abandon the secondary. From Ode to the dragon river.

The origin of Idioms

The first scene of the Peking Opera Ode to the Dragon River: "in order to block the river and save the drought, we will lose some money. According to our game of chess, it's called 'lose one's life and protect one's car.'"

Idiom usage

Used as a predicate or object; used to make a choice.

Chinese PinYin : diū zú bǎo jū