| 纸上谈兵 |
zhǐ shàng tán bīng |
lit. military tactics on paper (idiom) / fig. theoretical discussion that is worse than useless in practice / armchair strategist / idle theorizing / cf Zhao Kuo 赵括 leading an army of 400,000 to total annihilation at battle of Changping 长平之战 in 260 BC |
| 纸 |
zhǐ |
variant of 纸 |
| 纸 |
zhǐ |
paper (CL:张,沓) / classifier for documents, letters etc |
| 上 |
shǎng |
used in 上声 |
| 上 |
shàng |
(bound form) up; upper; above; previous / first (of multiple parts) / to climb; to get onto; to go up / to attend (class or university) / (directional complement) up / (noun suffix) on; above |
| 谈 |
Tán |
surname Tan |
| 谈 |
tán |
to speak / to talk / to converse / to chat / to discuss |
| 兵 |
bīng |
soldiers / a force / an army / weapons / arms / military / warlike / CL:个 |