兵荒馬亂

简 兵荒马乱 · 繁 兵荒馬亂
Mandarin · pinyin bīng huāng mǎ luàn

Meanings

  1. (idiom) war-torn; ravaged by war; in a state of utter chaos
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Characters in this entry

兵
bīng · soldier, troops
荒
huāng · wasteland, desert; uncultivated
馬
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亂
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马
mǎ · horse; surname; Kangxi radical 187
乱
luàn · confusion, state of chaos, revolt
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Mandarin tones

1–1–3–4 · bing1 huang1 ma3 luan4

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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.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

  1. (idiomatic) war-torn; ravaged by war
  2. (idiomatic) chaotic

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

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

兵荒馬亂 · bing1 huang1 ma3 luan4
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 12,225
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record兵荒馬亂 兵荒马乱 [bing1 huang1 ma3 luan4] /(idiom) war-torn; ravaged by war; in a state of utter chaos/