投笔从戎

to lay down the pen and take up the sword (idiom) / to join the military (esp. of educated person)

to cast / to send / to throw oneself (into the river etc) / to seek refuge / to place oneself into the hands of

pen / pencil / writing brush / to write or compose / the strokes of Chinese characters / classifier for sums of money, deals / CL:支[zhi1],枝[zhi1]

from / through / via / to follow / to obey / to engage in (an activity) / never (in negative sentence) / (Taiwan pr. [zong4]) retainer / assistant / auxiliary / subordinate / related by common paternal grandfather or earlier ancestor

to enlist / to be in the army

surname Rong

generic term for weapons (old) / army (matters) / military affairs