When Xiang Yu, the Sovereign of the Chu State, camped his defeated troops in Gaixia, he suffered from a shortage of forces and food. And the troops of Liu Bang, the King of the Han State, and of the dukes rounded up Xiang Yu’s troops in tight rings.
刘邦终于布置了几层兵力，把项羽紧紧围在垓下（在今安徽灵璧县东南）时，项羽手下的兵士已经很少，粮食又没有了。
At night, Xiang Yu heard the folk songs of Chu on all sides.
夜里听见四面围住他的军队都唱起楚地的民歌，
Terribly shocked，he murmured，“ Has Han troops occupied all the lands of Chu?”
不禁非常吃惊地说:“刘邦已经得到了禁地了吗？为什么他的部队里面楚人这么多呢? ”
Now when one is said to hear the Chu Songs on all sides, it refers to an endangered situation, or a state of being utterly isolated.
所以以后的人就用“四面楚歌”这句话，形容人们遭受各方面攻击或逼迫的客观环境，而致陷于孤立窘迫的境地。
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