草木皆兵

Chinese

		grass; straw; draft (of a document) grass; straw; draft (of a document); careless; rough; manuscript; hasty	tree; wood	all; each and every; in all cases	soldiers; a force; an army soldiers; a force; an army; weapons; arms; military; warlike
trad. (草木皆兵)		草	木	皆	兵
simp. #(草木皆兵)		草	木	皆	兵
Literally: “(When the wind blows the) grass and trees, (one thinks that) the soldiers (enemy) are everywhere”.

Etymology

From record of Battle of Fei River in Book of Jin:

堅與苻融登城而望王師，見部陣齊整，將士精銳，又北望八公山上草木，皆類人形，顧謂融曰：「此亦勍敵也，何謂少乎！」憮然有懼色。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]

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坚与苻融登城而望王师，见部阵齐整，将士精锐，又北望八公山上草木，皆类人形，顾谓融曰：「此亦勍敌也，何谓少乎！」怃然有惧色。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

From: 648 CE, Fang Xuanling (lead editor), Book of Jin

Jiān yǔ fúróng dēng chéng ér wàng wángshī, jiàn bùzhèn qízhěng, jiāngshì jīngruì, yòu běi wàng bāgōngshān shàng cǎomù, jiē lèi rénxíng, gù wèi róng yuē: “Cǐ yì qíngdí yě, hé wèi shào hū!” Wǔrán yǒu jù sè. [Pinyin]

Fu Jian and Fu Rong climbed up the citadel (in Shouyang) to observe the royal Jin army. Jian saw that the troops were in neat order, and the soldiers were of best quality. Then when Jian looked at the trees on Bagongshan, he thought that the trees resembled humans (and was afraid that there were ambushes) “There are strong enemies there too! How can you say that Jin has only few troops?” said Jian to Rong disappointedly and worriedly.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): cǎomùjiēbīng

  (Zhuyin): ㄘㄠˇ ㄇㄨˋ ㄐㄧㄝ ㄅㄧㄥ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): cou² muk⁶ gaai¹ bing¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: cǎomùjiēbīng
    • Zhuyin: ㄘㄠˇ ㄇㄨˋ ㄐㄧㄝ ㄅㄧㄥ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cǎomùjiebing
    • Wade–Giles: tsʻao³-mu⁴-chieh¹-ping¹
    • Yale: tsǎu-mù-jyē-bīng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tsaomuhjiebing
    • Palladius: цаомуцзебин (caomuczebin)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ mu⁵¹ t͡ɕi̯ɛ⁵⁵ piŋ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: cou² muk⁶ gaai¹ bing¹
    • Yale: chóu muhk gāai bīng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsou² muk⁹ gaai¹ bing¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: cou² mug⁶ gai¹ bing¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰou̯³⁵ mʊk̚² kaːi̯⁵⁵ pɪŋ⁵⁵/

Idiom

草木皆兵

1. Describes a situation in which someone is being overly paranoid: to apprehend danger in every sound

See also

• 風聲鶴唳／风声鹤唳 (fēngshēnghèlì)