兵革

Chinese

		soldiers; a force; an army soldiers; a force; an army; weapons; arms; military; warlike	leather; remove
simp. and trad. (兵革)		兵	革
Literally: “arms and armour”.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): bīnggé

(Zhuyin): ㄅㄧㄥㄍㄜˊ

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: bīnggé
  - Zhuyin: ㄅㄧㄥㄍㄜˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: binggé
  - Wade–Giles: ping¹-ko²
  - Yale: bīng-gé
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bingger
  - Palladius: бингэ (bingɛ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /piŋ⁵⁵ kɤ³⁵/

Middle Chinese: pjaeng keak

Rime
Character	兵	革
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	幫 (1)	見 (28)
Final (韻)	庚 (111)	麥 (119)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	II
Fanqie	甫明切	古核切
Baxter	pjaeng	keak
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/pˠiæŋ/	/kˠɛk̚/
Pan Wuyun	/pᵚiaŋ/	/kᵚæk̚/
Shao Rongfen	/piaŋ/	/kɐk̚/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/piajŋ/	/kəɨjk̚/
Li Rong	/piɐŋ/	/kɛk̚/
Wang Li	/pĭɐŋ/	/kæk̚/
Bernhard Karlgren	/pi̯ɐŋ/	/kæk̚/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	bīng	ge
Expected Cantonese Reflex	bing¹	gak¹

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*praŋ kˤrək/

(Zhengzhang): /*praŋ krɯːɡ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	兵	革
Reading #	1/1	1/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	bīng	gé
Middle Chinese	‹ pjæng ›	‹ kɛk ›
Old Chinese	/*praŋ/	/*kˁrək/
English	weapon	hide, skin
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. [t] as coda may in fact be -t or -p; Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	兵	革
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	865	3835
Phonetic component	兵	革
Rime group	陽	職
Rime subdivision	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	兵	隔
Old Chinese	/*praŋ/	/*krɯːɡ/

Noun

兵革

(literary) weaponry; implements of war
- 凡兵革者，所以備害也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  凡兵革者，所以备害也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: Han Feizi, circa 2^nd century BCE
  Fán bīnggé zhě, suǒyǐ bèi hài yě. [Pinyin]
  In general, weapons and armour are for providing against harm.
- 域民不以封疆之界，固國不以山谿之險，威天下不以兵革之利。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  域民不以封疆之界，固国不以山谿之险，威天下不以兵革之利。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
  Yù mín bùyǐ fēngjiāng zhī jiè, gù guó bùyǐ shānxī zhī xiǎn, wēi tiānxià bùyǐ bīnggé zhī lì. [Pinyin]
  A people is bounded in, not by the limits of dykes and borders; a State is secured, not by the strengths of mountains and rivers; the kingdom is overawed, not by the sharpness and strength of arms.
(literary, metonymically) war; military action
- 是時漢兵與項羽相距，中國罷於兵革；以故冒頓得自彊，控弦之士三十餘萬。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  是时汉兵与项羽相距，中国罢于兵革；以故冒顿得自强，控弦之士三十余万。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE
  Shìshí Hàn bīng yǔ Xiàng Yǔ xiāng jù, Zhōngguó pí yú bīnggé; yǐgù Mòdú dé zìqiáng, kòngxiánzhīshì sānshí yú wàn. [Pinyin]
  At that time, Han and Xiang Yu's forces were locked against each other, and the Zhongguo was being exhausted by war. As a result, Modu was able to strengthen himself and mobilized a force of over three hundred thousand archers.
- 長平之坑，老少並陷；萬數之中，必有長命未當死之人，遭時衰微，兵革並起，不得終其壽。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  长平之坑，老少并陷；万数之中，必有长命未当死之人，遭时衰微，兵革并起，不得终其寿。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: Wang Chong, Lun Heng (Discussive Weighing), 80 CE, translated based on Alfred Forke's version
  Chángpíng zhī kēng, lǎoshào bìng xiàn; wànshù zhī zhōng, bìyǒu chángmìng wèi dāng sǐ zhī rén, zāo shí shuāiwēi, bīnggé bìngqǐ, bùdé zhōng qí shòu. [Pinyin]
  [A]t Changping the aged and the young were buried to the last. Among the tens of thousands, there were certainly many who had still a long life before them and ought not to have died. But they happen to live in a time of decay, when war breaks out everywhere, and cannot live their long lives to die of old age.

Synonyms

(war):

edit

兵戈 (bīnggē) (literary)
兵戎 (bīngróng) (literary)
兵火 (bīnghuǒ) (figurative)
戎機／戎机 (róngjī) (literary)
戰／战 (zhàn)
戰伐／战伐 (zhànfá) (literary)
戰火／战火 (zhànhuǒ) (figurative)
戰爭／战争 (zhànzhēng)
白刃 (báirèn) (literary, figurative)

Antonyms

(antonym(s) of “war”):

edit

和平 (hépíng)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (兵革):

→ Korean: 병혁(兵革) (byeonghyeok)
→ Vietnamese: binh cách (兵革)