Do one's best until one dies, an idiom in China. It means diligent, dedicated, and die. Often used to describe people's greatness. From Zhuge Liang's article "A Model".

During the Three Kingdoms period, after the death of Liu Bei, the Lord of Shu, Liu Chan succeeded to the throne and handed over the domestic military and political power to Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang joined forces with Wu to attack Wei, conquered Meng Huo in the south and actively prepared for two northern expeditions. On the eve of the last Northern Expedition, he wrote a book "Later as an Example" to Liu Chan, expressing his feelings of dying for his country.

Zhuge Liang

Zhuge Liang (181-23410-8), born in Wolong (now yinan county, Shandong Province), was the prime minister of Shu and Han during the Three Kingdoms period, an outstanding politician, strategist, inventor and writer in ancient China.

Zhuge Liang went to Jingzhou with his uncle Zhuge Xuan in his early years. After Zhuge Xuan's death, Zhuge Liang lived in seclusion in Longzhong. When Liu Bei was attached to Liu Biao in Jingzhou, Zhuge Liang proposed to Liu Bei the strategy of occupying Jingzhou and Yizhou and uniting Sun Quan against Cao Cao. According to Zhuge Liang's strategy, Liu Bei successfully established the Shuhan regime, and formed a tripartite confrontation with Sun Quan and Cao Cao.

In the first year of Zhangwu (22 1), Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor, appointed Zhuge Liang as prime minister, and made five northern expeditions to the Central Plains, but failed to achieve the purpose of revitalizing the Han Dynasty. Eventually, he died in Wuzhangyuan (now Qishan, Baoji City, Shaanxi Province) in the 12th year of Jianxing (234) at the age of 54. The late master pursued Shi as a loyal marquis of Wu, and later generations took marquis of Wu as their honorific title. Huan Wen of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was named King Wuxing.

The representative works of Zhuge Liang's prose include A Model and A Book of Commandments. He once invented the wooden ox, the flying horse, the Kongming lantern and so on. And the crossbow was reformed, called Zhuge Lian crossbow, which can hit all targets with one crossbow. Zhuge Liang, a representative of loyal ministers and wise men in China traditional culture, devoted himself to his life and died.