How do you pronounce 乌合之众?

乌合之众 is pronounced wū hé zhī zhòng in Mandarin Chinese.

What does 乌合之众 literally mean?

Literally, 乌合之众 means “a flock of crows gathered haphazardly”. It is used to mean “a disorganized and undisciplined crowd”.

Where does 乌合之众 come from?

乌合之众 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.

What is the Chinese definition of 乌合之众?

象暂时聚合的一群乌鸦。比喻临时杂凑的、毫无组织纪律的一群人。

乌合之众 — “A disorganized and undisciplined crowd”

乌合之众 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “a disorganized and undisciplined crowd”. A mob without cohesion; a rabble. Literally, “A flock of crows gathered haphazardly”.

Frequency

乌合之众 Pronunciation and Pinyin

乌wū
合hé
之zhī
众zhòng

乌合之众 Character Breakdown

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
乌	wū	4	crow, black, nothing, alas
合	hé	6	combine, fit, or total
之	zhī	4	possessive or connective particle
众	zhòng	6	many people

Example Sentence with 乌合之众

那些没有经过专业训练的队伍，在遇到真正的挑战时，很快就变成了乌合之众，不堪一击。

Those untrained teams, when faced with real challenges, quickly became a disorganized rabble, unable to withstand a single blow.

Origin and Story of 乌合之众

Towards the end of the Western Han Dynasty, after Wang Mang was defeated, Liu Xuan became emperor. Geng Yue, from Maoling in Fufeng (present-day Shaanxi Province), joined Liu Xuan with his father, Geng Kuang.

Not long after, Wang Lang from Handan claimed to be Liu Zi Yu, son of Emperor Cheng of Han, and with the support of Liu Xiu from the Western Han imperial family and wealthy merchant Li Yu, declared himself emperor, establishing his capital in Handan.

At this time, Sun Cang and Wei Bao, Geng Yue's subordinates, urged Geng Yue to defect to Liu Zi Yu (Wang Lang).

Geng Yue was enraged upon hearing this. He drew his sword and declared, "This rebel Liu Zi Yu and I are irreconcilable! When I reach Chang'an, I will ask His Majesty to dispatch troops from Yuyang and Shanggu. We will attack from Taiyuan and Daicheng. In a mere few tens of days, our light cavalry can strike at those disorganized rabble (乌合之众), sweeping them away like crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood, surely achieving victory. Anyone who fails to grasp the larger situation and aligns themselves with those rebels will face extermination of their clan and death!"

Idioms Related to 乌合之众

Synonyms of 乌合之众

yī一pán盘sǎn散shā沙disorganized and lacking cohesion

Antonyms of 乌合之众

jīng精ruì锐zhī之shī师elite army

More idioms starting with 乌

Questions about 乌合之众

What does 乌合之众 mean?: 乌合之众 (wū hé zhī zhòng) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “a disorganized and undisciplined crowd”.
How do you pronounce 乌合之众?: 乌合之众 is pronounced wū hé zhī zhòng in Mandarin Chinese.
What does 乌合之众 literally mean?: Literally, 乌合之众 means “a flock of crows gathered haphazardly”. It is used to mean “a disorganized and undisciplined crowd”.
Where does 乌合之众 come from?: 乌合之众 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.
What is the Chinese definition of 乌合之众?: 象暂时聚合的一群乌鸦。比喻临时杂凑的、毫无组织纪律的一群人。

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