Learn Chinese Idioms-Armchair Strategy

Welcome to another series of learning Chinese idioms. In this section, we will introduce the idiom "纸上谈兵 (zhǐ shàng tán bīng)" or “armchair strategy” in English. This idiom has always been a difficult one in learning mandarin and Chinese tutors say it confuses many Chinese learners who have taken Chinese tuition at Chinese school. 

The idiom"纸上谈兵 (zhǐshàngtánbīng) armchair strategy" comes from ancient times China. It refers to people who engage in idle talk, but are unable to act on their high minded theories. It also refers to people who are seemingly excellent but actually when comes to practice proves to be incapable, so this idiom is usually used to urge people to combine theories with practical knowledge. After all, actions speak louder than words. Just like Chinese learners who perform very well at Chinese school, but cannot even speak a little Chinese in real Chinese circumstances.

This idiom originates from an ancient-time story in China. The story: The general Zhao Kuo of Zhao Dynasty began studying military strategy and tactics at childhood, but he could only talk about military strategies over paper. When Zhao Kuo became a general, he changed all the military laws and assigned officers thoughtlessly. He never went to the battlefield, really fighting enemies. Without knowing what the real battlefield is, a lot of wrong strategies were made. As a result, Zhao Kuo's army suffered a severe defeat in the famous Campaign of Chang Ping. Zhao Kuo himself died in the war and the Zhao Dynasty was unable to recover from the defeat.

From this idiom, we, as Chinese learners should put what we learn from Chinese tuition to practice and test our progress through real circumstances.

Learning mandarin is actually not as difficult as we thought. The key is to find the right way to learn it. For example, in order to master Chinese idioms, you should read lots of idiom stories which will be a great help in learning Chinese. Besides, you will get to understand a lot of Chinese culture reading those stories which are fun and interesting.