| 进身之阶 | 
jìn shēn zhī jiē | 
stepping-stone to greater power or higher rank | 
| 进 | 
jìn | 
to go forward / to advance / to go in / to enter / to put in / to submit / to take in / to admit / (math.) base of a number system / classifier for sections in a building or residential compound | 
| 进身 | 
jìn shēn | 
to get oneself promoted to a higher rank | 
|  身 | 
shēn | 
body / life / oneself / personally / one's morality and conduct / the main part of a structure or body / pregnant / classifier for sets of clothes: suit, twinset / Kangxi radical 158 | 
|   之 | 
zhī | 
(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的) / him / her / it | 
|    阶 | 
jiē | 
variant of 阶 | 
|    阶 | 
jiē | 
rank or step / stairs |