Chinese language vocabulary 汉语词汇 纸上谈兵(Zhǐ Shàng Tán Bīng)

Zhàn guó shíqī yǒu yí gè Zhào guó rén jiào Zhào Kuò, tā de fùqīn shì dāng shí yǒumíng de jiāngjūn Zhào Shē. Zhào Kuò niánqīng de shíhòu hěn xǐhuān xuéxí bīngfǎ, tánlùn qǐ yòngbīng dǎzhàng de shìqíng lái, jiù tāotāo-bùjué, yǒu shíhòu tā fùqīn yě hěn nán bódǎo tā.
战国时期有一个赵国人叫赵括，他的父亲是当时有名的将军赵奢。赵括年轻的时候很喜欢学习兵法，谈论起用兵打仗的事情来，就滔滔不绝，有时候他父亲也很难驳倒他。

In the period of the Warring States, in the State of Zhao, there was a man named Zhao Kuo whose father was the famous general Zhao She. In his youth Zhao Kuo was obsessed with military strategy and tactics and read many related books. He could talk with great eloquence about military strategies and sometimes even his father couldn’t argue with him.

Gōngyuán qián 262 nián, Zhào guó hé Qín guó zài Chángpíng juézhàn, Qín guó cǎiqǔ le fǎnjiànjì, Zhào wáng zhōngjì, ràng Zhào Kuò dàitì Lián Pō qù gēn Qín guó dǎzhàng. Zhào Kuò zhī zhīdào gēnjù bīngshū shàng de fāngfǎ zuòzhàn, bù zhīdào biàntōng. ér Qín guó de jiānglǐng què chūqí-búyì, jiǎzhuāng zhàn bài táozǒu. Zhào Kuò bù zhīdào zhǒng le jì, màorán jìngōng, jiéguǒ bèi Qín jūn bāowéi, hái bèi jiéduàn le yùnsòng liángshí de dàolù.
公元前262年，赵国和秦国在长平决战，秦国采取了反间计，赵王中计，让赵括代替廉颇去跟秦国打仗。赵括只知道根据兵书上的方法作战，不知道变通。而秦国的将领却出其不意，假装战败逃走。赵括不知道中了计，贸然进攻，结果被秦军包围，还被截断了运送粮食的道路。

In 262 B.C., a war broke out between the Zhao kingdom and the Qin kingdom in Changping. The Qin managed to sow discord between the king of Zhao and Lian Po, the most capable and distinguished general of Zhao. Instead of appointing Lian Po as the commander of its army, the king of Zhao sent Zhao Kuo in his place. Unfortunately, Zhao Kuo was just a bookworm who knew a lot about military theories but little about practical maneuvers when leading a real army. Much to Zhao Kuo’s surprise, the leader of the Qin army pretended to retreat from the battlefield.. Unaware that he had been deceived, Zhao Kuo recklessly led his army to pursue the enemies. In the end, Zhao Kuo’s army was besieged by Qin, and all their means of getting provisions were cut off.

Hòulá, Zhào Kuò, bèi qínjūn shè sǐ. Zhàojūn shìbīng jī’è píláo, yòu shīqù le zhǔjiāng, jūnxīn dà luàn. Zhào guó jǐ shí wàn de shìbīng dōu tóujiàng le Qín guó.
后来，赵括，被秦军射死。赵军士兵饥饿疲劳，又失去了主将，军心大乱。赵国几十万 的士兵都投降了秦国。

Later, Zhao Kuo was killed by arrows from the army of Qin. After his death, the soldiers of Zhao, hungry and tired, became desperate and surrendered to the Qin.

Words：
将军jiāngjūn： general (n.)
兵法bīng fǎ： military strategy and tactics (n.)
滔滔不绝tāotāo bù jué： talking fluently and endlessly (ph.)
驳倒bódǎo： refute (v.)
公元前gōngyuán qián： B.C. (before Christ) (adv.)
反间计fǎnjiàn jì： stratagem of sowing distrust or discord among one's enemies (n.)
根据gēnjù： on the basis of, according to (prep.)
将领jiànglǐng： military officer (n.)
出其不意chū qí bú yì： to take sb. by surprise (ph.)
贸然màorán： rashly, without careful consideration (adv.)
截断jié duàn： to cut off (v.)
射shè： shoot (v.)
投降tóuxiáng： to surrender (v.)
Proper noun：
战国Zhànguó：the period of the Warring States (475 B.C. - 221B.C)
赵国Zhào guó：one of the seven kingdoms during the Warring Sates period
赵括Zhào Kuò：a general in the state of Zhao
赵奢Zhào Shē：a famous general in Zhao guo, father of Zhao Kuo
秦国Qín guó：one of the seven kingdoms during the Warring Sates period.
廉颇Lián Pō：a famous general in the late Zhao guo.
长平Chángpíng：a place located in Shanxi province.
Meanings：

“纸上谈兵”指在纸面上谈论打仗。比喻没有实际经验，只会照着书本空谈，不能成为现实。

“纸 上谈兵(Zhǐ Shàng Tán Bīng )” literally means talk about strategy on paper. It refers to those who have no practical experience and are only good at empty talk.

Senteces：

1. Rúguǒ quèdìng le yuǎndà de mùbiāo, jiù yào fùzhū shíjiàn xíngdòng, qiānwàn bú yào zhǐshàngtánbīng.
如果确定了远大的目标，就要付诸实践行动，千万不要纸上谈兵。

If you have set a goal, you’d better put it into practice. Don’t let your goals become纸上谈兵.

2．Tā zhè gè rén jiù huì zhǐshàng tán bīng, zhēn yào ràng tā gàn diǎn shénme jiù bù xíng le.
他这个人就会纸上谈兵，真要让他干点什么就不行了。

He knows nothing but 纸上谈兵, so you can never trust him with real work.