HSK 7–9 vocabularyHSK 3.0

纸上谈兵

zhǐshàng-tánbīng

Traditional: 紙上談兵

lit. military tactics on paper (idiom)

HSK 7–9
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Meaning of 纸上谈兵 in English

zhǐshàng-tánbīngHSK 7–9Syllabus #10716
  1. lit. military tactics on paper (idiom)
  2. fig. theoretical discussion that is worse than useless in practice
  3. armchair strategist
  4. idle theorizing
  5. cf Zhao Kuo 趙括|赵括[Zhao4 Kuo4] leading an army of 400,000 to total annihilation at battle of Changping 長平之戰|长平之战[Chang2 ping2 zhi1 Zhan4] in 260 BC

Characters

纸 on its own →
zhǐ · paper (CL:張|张[zhang1],沓[da2])

HSK words with 纸

纸HSK 3报纸HSK 3纸巾HSK 4图纸HSK 7–9锡纸HSK 7–9纸币HSK 7–9
上 on its own →
shàng · first (of multiple parts)

HSK words with 上

上HSK 1上班HSK 1上课HSK 1上午HSK 1上学HSK 1晚上HSK 1早上HSK 1路上HSK 2上来HSK 2上面HSK 2
谈 on its own →
tán · to speak

HSK words with 谈

谈HSK 4谈话HSK 5访谈HSK 6交谈HSK 6谈论HSK 6谈判HSK 6畅谈HSK 7–9会谈HSK 7–9洽谈HSK 7–9谈及HSK 7–9
兵 on its own →
bīng · soldiers

HSK words with 兵

兵HSK 6士兵HSK 6官兵HSK 7–9

Level, pinyin and part of speech: HSK Syllabus (CLEC, Nov 2025). Definitions: CC-CEDICT, CC BY-SA 4.0. Sources & licences