To summon one's courage and spirit at the first beat of the drums
To go all out; to do one's best; to get something finished with a single effort
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今天我一鼓作气背了50个汉字 | Jīntiān wǒ yīgǔzuòqì bèi le 50 gè hànzì
Today I memorized 50 Chinese characters in one go
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尽然已经粉刷了起居室，为何不一鼓作气把厨房也粉刷下呢？ | Jìnrán yǐjīng fěnshuāle qǐ jūshì, wèihé bù yīgǔzuòqì bǎ chúfáng yě fěnshuā xià ne?
We've already finished painting the room, so why not just go ahead and get the kitchen painted as well?
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《春秋左传》(Chūn Qiū Zuò Zhuàn), a famous work that discusses political and military affairs during the Spring and Autumn Period (770 - 476 BC). It was written by the famous blind historian 左丘明 (Zuò Qiū Míng) and is also known as 《左传》(Zuò Zhuàn)
During the Spring and Autumn Period (春秋时期, chūn qiú shí qī | 770 - 476 BC), the state of 齐国 (Qí Guó) invaded the state of 鲁国 (Lǔ Guó). 鲁庄公 (Lǔ Zhuāng Gōng, or Duke Zhuang of Lǔ Guó) and his general 曹刿 (Cáo Guì) rode out with their army to face their attackers head on.
Once the troops from both armies had gotten into battle formation, the 齐国 soldiers pounded their battle drum once. 鲁庄公 was about to order his men to do the same, but 曹刿 abruptly stopped him. It wasn't until the enemy had drummed three times that the general gave the go-ahead for his own troops to start their drumming.
When the fighting was over, 鲁国 had achieved a solid victory. 鲁庄公 asked 曹刿 why he had prevented the troops from drumming.
"Going into battle depends on bravery," replied 曹刿. "At the first sound of the drums, a soldier's spirit will rise and he will summon his courage. At the second drum, that morale and courage drops. By the third drum, the soldier has lost almost all of his courage. By waiting to drum until the enemy had drummed three times, we boosted our men's courage and morale."