置之死地而後生

1. • (idiom based on Sunzi's "The Art of War" 孙子兵法 sūnzǐbīngfǎ) to deploy one's troops in such a way that there is no possibility of retreat, so that they will fight for their lives and win the battle to fight desperately when confronted with mortal danger to find a way to emerge from a dire situation

Character by character

• 置(zhì)install
• 之(zhī)(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的 de)
• 死(sǐ)die
• 地(dì)earth
• 而(ér)and
• 後(hòu)back
• 生(shēng)grow