In 202 B.C. Xiang Yu and his army were besieged by the Han army at Gaixia. One night he broke out of the encirclement with only about 800 men. The Han army continued to pursue him, until he had only 26men left. When they reached a village called Wujiang, intending to cross the Yangtze River to the east, the head of the village prepared a boat for Xiang Yu, and urged him to cross at once. Xiang Yu said, "When I crossed the River and went west, I took with me 8,000 sons and brothers from east of the Yangtze. Now none of them has returned; how can I face the elders east of the Yangtze?" Then he turned and attacked the Han army, killed hundreds of the enemy, and suffered many wounds himself. Finally, he cut his own throat and perished.

Later, the expression came to be used to describe the feelings of a person who is too ashamed to face the people back home after failing miserably at some venture.