📖 Meaning
An army that fights to uphold benevolence and justice, typically marching to punish tyranny and relieve the suffering of the people. It describes forces whose cause is morally just rather than driven by conquest or plunder. The phrase is used interchangeably with the more common 仁义之师.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase comes from Ming-dynasty author Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, chapter 31. In the aftermath of the pivotal Battle of Guandu, a adviser describes the Chancellor Cao Cao as having raised a benevolent and righteous army, one that comforts the oppressed people and punishes the wicked regime of Yuan Shao. The speech credits this moral justification with Cao Cao's stunning victory over Yuan Shao's far larger host of a million troops. The idiom thus frames military victory as the reward of a righteous cause.
💡 Example Usage
岳飞率领的仁义之兵，深得百姓拥护。
The benevolent and righteous army led by Yue Fei won the fervent support of the people.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 仁义之兵
- Pinyin: rén yì zhī bīng
- Literal Translation: benevolence, righteousness, of, army
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4