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蝦兵蟹將

简虾兵蟹将 · 繁蝦兵蟹將

Mandarin · pinyin xiā bīng xiè jiàng

shrimp soldiers and crab generals (in mythology or popular fiction, the army of the Dragon King of the Eastern Sea)
useless troops (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

蝦: Look up this written character
兵: bīng · soldier, troops
蟹: xiè · crab
將: Look up this written character
虾: xiā · shrimp, prawn
将: jiāng · will, going to, future; general

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–4–4 · xia1 bing1 xie4 jiang4

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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.

蝦兵蟹將 · find source passages ↗ · 虾兵蟹将 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

haa1 bing1 haai5 zoeng3

Cantonese word readings for 蝦兵蟹將. 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.

noun

(derogatory) a troop that is weak when in combat

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

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