DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

興師動眾

简兴师动众 · 繁興師動眾

Mandarin · pinyin xīng shī dòng zhòng

to muster large forces
to get a great number of people involved (in carrying out some task)

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

興: xìng · thrive, prosper, flourish
師: shī · teacher, master, specialist; multitude, troops; hexagram ䷆
動: dòng · move, happen; movement, action
眾: Look up this written character
兴: xìng · thrive, prosper, flourish
师: shī · teacher, master, specialist
动: dòng · move, happen; movement, action
众: zhòng · multitude, crowd; masses, public

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–1–4–4 · xing1 shi1 dong4 zhong4

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.

興師動眾 · find source passages ↗ · 兴师动众 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) to mobilize a large number of people

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

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