📖 Meaning
An army with too many soldiers often suffers defeat in battle. The reason is that an excessively large force leads to inconsistent commands and disjointed momentum, making it impossible to coordinate troops as one. It expresses the principle that numerical superiority alone does not guarantee victory.
📜 Origin Story
From the Qing dynasty scholar Zhao Yi's work "Gai Yu Cong Kao" (陔馀丛考). Zhao Yi observed that throughout history, armies with an excessive number of soldiers frequently met with defeat. He explained that too many troops result in orders that cannot be uniformly issued and a fighting spirit that cannot flow coherently, so the army cannot act with the unity of arm and finger. The saying thus warns against equating a large force with a strong one.
💡 Example Usage
历史上不乏兵多者败的教训，淝水之战前秦苻坚拥兵百万却一败涂地。
History offers many lessons where too many troops led to defeat; at the Battle of Fei River, Fu Jian of Former Qin commanded a million soldiers yet was utterly routed.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 兵多者败
- Pinyin: bīng duō zhě bài
- Literal Translation: soldiers, many, those, suffer defeat
- Category: Wisdom
- Characters: 4