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赤手空拳 (chì shǒu kōng quán) — bare-handed; unarmed; (figuratively) empty-handed; without any resources or preparation

Definition

A chengyu meaning 'with bare hands, no weapon' — literally 'red hands, empty fists.' Often used figuratively to stress having no resources or backing at all.

idiom
bare-handedunarmed(figuratively) empty-handedwithout any resources or preparation

Examples

  • 赤手空拳。
    Tā chì shǒu kōng quán dì dǎ bài le nà ge dǎi tú.
    He defeated that gangster bare-handed.
  • 赤手空拳，。
    Chuàng yè shí tā chì shǒu kōng quán, méi yǒu rèn hé zī jīn.
    When starting his business, he had nothing — no capital at all.
  • ，赤手空拳。
    Miàn duì kùn nan, wǒ men bù néng chì shǒu kōng quán dì yìng pīn.
    Facing difficulties, we can't just fight bare-handed.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéCoordinate

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

赤手bare hands
赤chìbare手shǒuhand
偏正Modifier + head
空拳empty fists
空kōngempty拳quánfist
偏正Modifier + head

赤手 and 空拳 both describe bare hands and empty fists, so the idiom means unarmed.

Characters in this word

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

赤 is a stylized form showing 大 (a person) and 火 (fire), depicting a person by a fire.

Open 赤 →

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

手 draws a five-fingered human hand: the top line is a bent middle finger, and the horizontal lines show the other four fingers.

Open 手 →

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
穴穴xuécave, hole
Sound part声符shēngfú
工
工gōng空kōng
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

空 is built from 穴, a cave or hole, and 工, which gives the sound.

Open 空 →

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
手手shǒuhand
Sound part声符shēngfú
龹
龹龹拳quán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

拳 pairs 手 (hand) with 龹 for sound. The hand part shows that the meaning is a form of hand, such as a fist.

Open 拳 →
Appears in
Idioms & Set Phrases

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