Engage in Idle Theorizing

Characters:

Pronunciation: zhi(3) shang(4) tan(2) bing(4)
Explanation: A metaphor to describe meaningless theories that can not solve any problems

Tone: Negative

The Story: In the Warring States Period, Zhao's General Zhao She had a son named Zhao Kuo. He read lots of books about wars and fights, and he often flaunted his so-called 'war theory' to people. Many people thought he was talent in matters of war, but his father thought his theories were ridiculous and did not agree.

One year, when Qin attacked Zhao, the king of Zhao took suggestions from some ministers and appointed Zhao Kuo as the Lead General. When Zhao Kuo went to the frontier, he acted blindly and foolishly. Qin took advantage of this idiot's behaviour and cut Zhao's food supply. Qin then surrounded the army. As the shortage of food became worse, Zhao's army had to break out of their mess, but the whole army was weakened by hunger and they were totally defeated. Zhao Kuo was killed during the fighting as well.

Usage Example (Pinyin): Rang(4) wo(3) men(2) ting(2) zhi(3) zhi(3) shang(4) tan(2) bing(4), wu(4) shi(2) de gong(1) zuo(4) ba.

Usage Example (English translation): Let's stop engaging in idle theorizing, begin to work practically.

Note: The spoken Chinese Mandarin language has 4 spoken tones. We have attempted to re-create those above where after each syllable we tell you (1), (2), (3), or (4) as they correspond to each of the 4 tones. We encourage you to complement your Xianzai.com Chinese Idioms newsletter with a good offline study program.