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千军万马 (qiān jūn wàn mǎ) — a mighty army on the move; overwhelming force or numbers

Definition

A chengyu describing a vast, overwhelming force — literally 'a thousand armies and ten thousand horses.' Used for both literal armies and, more commonly, intense competition or large-scale momentum.

phrase
a mighty army on the moveoverwhelming force or numbers

Examples

  • 千军万马，。
    Miàn duì qiān jūn wàn mǎ bān de duì shǒu, tā men háo bú tuì suō.
    Facing an opponent like a mighty army, they did not flinch.
  • ，。
    Shāng chǎng shàng qiān jūn wàn mǎ, jìng zhēng yì cháng jī liè.
    The business world is like a thousand armies and horses — competition is exceptionally fierce.
  • 千军万马。
    Tā dú zì yì rén dǐng zhù le qiān jūn wàn mǎ de jìn gōng.
    He single-handedly held off the attack of a mighty army.

Origin

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
一一yīone, signifying a number
Sound part声符shēngfú
人
人rén千qiān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

千 pairs 人, whose sound was similar, with 一, a number stroke; the extra line was explained as extension, and a thousand is a number reached by extending counting.

Open 千 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 軍; 军 is its simplified writing.

  • 車車jūcart; chariot
  • 勹勹bāoto surround

In the traditional form 軍, 車 shows the chariot sense, while the part now written 勹 is a sound part, not the 'surround' 勹. Simplified 军 is a later shorthand.

Open 军 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 萬; 万 is its simplified writing.

For 万, the form 萬 was originally a picture of a scorpion, later borrowed for its sound to write 'ten thousand'; the scorpion picture is unrelated to that number.

Open 万 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 馬; 马 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 馬 shows a horse with its head facing left, a flowing mane, and two legs standing vertically.

Open 马 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9

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