DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

兵強馬壯

简兵强马壮 · 繁兵強馬壯

Mandarin · pinyin bīng qiáng mǎ zhuàng

lit. strong soldiers and sturdy horses (idiom)
fig. a well-trained and powerful army

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

兵: bīng · soldier, troops
強: qiáng · strong, powerful, energetic
馬: Look up this written character
壯: Look up this written character
强: qiáng · strong, powerful, energetic
马: mǎ · horse; surname; Kangxi radical 187
壮: zhuàng · big, large; robust; name of tribe

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–2–3–4 · bing1 qiang2 ma3 zhuang4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

7character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

兵強馬壯 · find source passages ↗ · 兵强马壮 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bing1 koeng4 maa5 zong3

Cantonese word readings for 兵強馬壯. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) well-trained and powerful troops

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack