杯酒釋兵權
简 杯酒释兵权 · 繁 杯酒釋兵權Meanings
- to dismiss military hierarchy using wine cups
- cf Song founding Emperor Song Taizu 宋太祖 holds a banquet in 961 and persuades his senior army commanders to go home to their provinces
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Mandarin tones
1–3–4–1–2 · bei1 jiu3 shi4 bing1 quan2
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
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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.
杯酒釋兵權 · find source passages ↗ · 杯酒释兵权 · find source passages ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
bui1 zau2 sik1 bing1 kyun4
Cantonese word readings for 杯酒釋兵權. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.
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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
- (idiomatic) relinquish one's military command over a glass of wine
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
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