兵出无名 — “To deploy troops without a just cause”

兵出无名 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to deploy troops without a just cause”. To initiate any action or undertaking without a proper or legitimate reason or justification.

Frequency

兵出无名 Pronunciation and Pinyin

兵出无名 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
兵	bīng	7	weapon, soldier, military affairs
出	chū	5	go or come out
无	wú	4	without, not having
名	míng	6	name, reputation, famous

Example Sentence with 兵出无名

这次团队的行动真是兵出无名，大家都不明白为什么要这么做。

This team's action was truly without a proper reason; no one understood why they had to do it.

Origin and Story of 兵出无名

During the Chu-Han Contention, Liu Bang, seeing an opportunity when Xiang Yu was campaigning against King Tian Rong in the north, crossed the Yellow River from Linjin, subdued King Wei Bao, and subsequently occupied Luoyang.

However, his advisor Dong Gong suggested that for his campaigns to gain wide support and legitimacy, they should not be '兵出无名' (without a just cause). Dong Gong reminded Liu Bang that Xiang Yu had previously assassinated Emperor Yi.

Liu Bang then publicly mourned Emperor Yi for three days, providing a legitimate and widely accepted reason for his military actions.

This strategic move transformed his campaign from one that might have been perceived as lacking justification into one that was '兵出有名' (with a just cause), ultimately enabling him to successfully capture Pengcheng, the capital of Chu.