A disorganized and undisciplined crowd; a mob without cohesion; a rabble.
Era:
Ancient
Frequency:
Synonym:
Antonym:
Story:
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!"