Chinese word dictionary

纸上谈兵

zhǐshàng-tánbīng · lit. military tactics on paper (idiom); fig. theoretical discussion that is worse than useless in practice; armchair strategist; idle theorizing; cf Zhao Kuo 趙括|赵括[Zhao4 Kuo4] leading an army of 400,000 to total annihilation at battle of Changping 長平之戰|长平之战[Chang2 ping2 zhi1 Zhan4] in 260 BC

Practice word

Word information

Simplified纸上谈兵

Traditional紙上談兵

Pinyinzhǐshàng-tánbīng

Part of speechGeneral

HSK 3.07-9

HSK 2.0Not listed

Character breakdown

Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.

纸zhǐ

paper

上shàng

above, on top, superior; to go up; to attend; previous

谈tán

to talk, to chat; conversation; surname

兵bīng

soldier; troops, an army; warlike

How to learn 纸上谈兵

Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.

When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.

Related vocabulary

Words with the same characters

Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.

上shàng

(bound form) up; upper; above; previous; first (of multiple parts); to climb; to get onto; to go up; to attend (class or university); (directional complement) up; (noun suffix) on; above

上班shàngbān

to go to work; to be on duty; to start work; to go to the office

上课shàngkè

to go to class; to attend class; to go to teach a class

上午shàngwǔ

morning; CL:個|个[ge4]

上学shàngxué

to go to school; to attend school

晚上wǎnshang

evening; night; CL:個|个[ge4]; in the evening