紙上談兵
简 纸上谈兵 · 繁 紙上談兵Meanings
- 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 Zhào Kuò leading an army of 400,000 to total annihilation at battle of Changping 長平之戰 Cháng píng zhī Zhàn in 260 BC
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Mandarin tones
3–4–2–1 · zhi3 shang4 tan2 bing1
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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.
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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
zi2 soeng6 taam4 bing1
Cantonese word readings for 紙上談兵. 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) to engage in theoretical discussion that is worse than useless in practice; armchair strategist; idle theorizing
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
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