窮兵黷武

Chinese

		exhausted; poor	soldiers; a force; an army soldiers; a force; an army; weapons; arms; military; warlike	blacken; constantly; to insult	martial; military
trad. (窮兵黷武)		窮	兵	黷	武
simp. (穷兵黩武)		穷	兵	黩	武

Etymology

First attested in 224 CE^[1] in Cao Pi's edict to Wang Lang, et al.:

三世爲將，道家所忌。窮兵黷武，古有成戒。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

三世为将，道家所忌。穷兵黩武，古有成戒。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: 224, 曹丕,《車駕臨江還詔三公》

Sānshì wéi jiāng, dàojiā suǒ jì. Qióngbīng dúwǔ, gǔ yǒu chéngjiè. [Pinyin]

Generalship spanning over three generations is tabooed by Taoist teachings; To exhaust armies and indulge in war has always been an ancient admonition.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): qióngbīngdúwǔ

(Zhuyin): ㄑㄩㄥˊ ㄅㄧㄥㄉㄨˊ ㄨˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): kung⁴ bing¹ duk⁶ mou⁵

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: qióngbīngdúwǔ
  - Zhuyin: ㄑㄩㄥˊ ㄅㄧㄥㄉㄨˊ ㄨˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: cyóngbingdúwǔ
  - Wade–Giles: chʻiung²-ping¹-tu²-wu³
  - Yale: chyúng-bīng-dú-wǔ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chyongbingdwuwuu
  - Palladius: цюнбиндуу (cjunbinduu)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰi̯ʊŋ³⁵ piŋ⁵⁵ tu³⁵ u²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: kung⁴ bing¹ duk⁶ mou⁵
  - Yale: kùhng bīng duhk móuh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: kung⁴ bing¹ duk⁹ mou⁵
  - Guangdong Romanization: kung⁴ bing¹ dug⁶ mou⁵
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰʊŋ²¹ pɪŋ⁵⁵ tʊk̚² mou̯¹³/

Middle Chinese: gjuwng pjaeng duwk mjuX

Rime
Character	窮	兵	黷	武
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	群 (30)	幫 (1)	定 (7)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	東 (2)	庚 (111)	屋 (3)	虞 (24)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)	Checked (Ø)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open	Closed
Division (等)	III	III	I	III
Fanqie	渠弓切	甫明切	徒谷切	文甫切
Baxter	gjuwng	pjaeng	duwk	mjuX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɡɨuŋ/	/pˠiæŋ/	/duk̚/	/mɨo^X/
Pan Wuyun	/ɡiuŋ/	/pᵚiaŋ/	/duk̚/	/mio^X/
Shao Rongfen	/ɡiuŋ/	/piaŋ/	/duk̚/	/mio^X/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/guwŋ/	/piajŋ/	/dəwk̚/	/muə̆^X/
Li Rong	/ɡiuŋ/	/piɐŋ/	/duk̚/	/mio^X/
Wang Li	/ɡĭuŋ/	/pĭɐŋ/	/duk̚/	/mĭu^X/
Bernhard Karlgren	/gi̯uŋ/	/pi̯ɐŋ/	/dʱuk̚/	/mi̯u^X/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	qióng	bīng	dú	wǔ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	kung⁴	bing¹	duk⁶	mou⁵

Old Chinese
(Zhengzhang): /*ɡuŋ praŋ l'oːɡ maʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	窮	窮	兵	武
Reading #	1/2	2/2	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	qióng	qióng	bīng	wǔ
Middle Chinese	‹ gjuwng ›	‹ gjuwng ›	‹ pjæng ›	‹ mju^X ›
Old Chinese	/*[ɡ](r)uŋ/	/*m-[ɡ](r)uŋ/	/*praŋ/	/*m(r)aʔ/
English	poor	exhaust	weapon	military
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. [t] as coda may in fact be -t or -p; Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	窮	兵	黷	武
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1
No.	4145	865	16036	13184
Phonetic component	躬	兵	𧶠	武
Rime group	終	陽	屋	魚
Rime subdivision	0	0	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	窮	兵	獨	武
Old Chinese	/*ɡuŋ/	/*praŋ/	/*l'oːɡ/	/*maʔ/

Idiom

窮兵黷武

to start wars and use military might rashly and excessively

References

^ Zhang, Keli (张可礼) (1983) 三曹年谱 (Chronicle of the Three Caos), China: 齐鲁书社, page 206

[1] Zhang, Keli (张可礼) (1983) 三曹年谱 (Chronicle of the Three Caos), China: 齐鲁书社, page 206

[1]