DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
兵馬未動,糧草先行
简 兵马未动,粮草先行 · 繁 兵馬未動,糧草先行Mandarin · pinyin bīng mǎ wèi dòng , liáng cǎo xiān xíng
Meanings
- before the troops move, fodder and provisions go first (idiom); logistics comes before military maneuvers
- an army marches on its stomach
Characters in this entry
- 兵
- bīng · soldier, troops
- 馬
- Look up this written character
- 未
- wèi · not yet; eighth earthly branch
- 動
- dòng · move, happen; movement, action
- 糧
- Look up this written character
- 草
- cǎo · grass, straw, thatch, herbs
- 先
- xiān · first, former, previous
- 行
- xíng · go; walk; move, travel; circulate; Kangxi radical 144
- 马
- mǎ · horse; surname; Kangxi radical 187
- 动
- dòng · move, happen; movement, action
- 粮
- liáng · food, grain, provisions
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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.
兵馬未動,糧草先行 · find source passages ↗ · 兵马未动,粮草先行 · find source passages ↗