兵来将敌,水来土堰

兵來將敵,水來土堰
bīngláijiàng,shuǐláiyàn
  1. counter soldiers with arms, water with an earth weir (idiom); different situations call for different action
  2. to adopt measures appropriate to the actual situation

CEDICT

Entry Composition

1 bīng
  1. soldiers
  2. a force
  3. an army
  4. weapons
  5. arms
  6. military
  7. warlike

classifier:

2 lái
  1. to come
  2. (used as a substitute for a more specific verb)
  3. hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回来 huílai)
  4. ever since (as in 自古以来 lái)
  5. for the past (amount of time)
  6. (prefix) the coming ...; the next ... (as in 来世 láishì)
  7. (between two verbs) in order to
  8. (after a round number) approximately
  9. (used after to indicate possibility, as in 谈得来 tándelái, or after to indicate impossibility, as in 吃不来 chībulái)
3 jiàng
  1. (bound form) a general
  2. (literary) to command; to lead
  3. (Chinese chess) general (on the black side, equivalent to a king in Western chess)
4
  1. (bound form) enemy
  2. (bound form) to be a match for; to rival
  3. (bound form) to resist; to withstand
5 shuǐ
  1. water
  2. (after a name) ... River
  3. to swim (used mostly in 会水 huìshuǐ and 水性 shuǐxìng)
  4. (coll.) lacking in substance; shoddy
  5. (bound form) additional cost; extra income
  6. classifier for washings of a garment
6 lái
  1. to come
  2. (used as a substitute for a more specific verb)
  3. hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回来 huílai)
  4. ever since (as in 自古以来 lái)
  5. for the past (amount of time)
  6. (prefix) the coming ...; the next ... (as in 来世 láishì)
  7. (between two verbs) in order to
  8. (after a round number) approximately
  9. (used after to indicate possibility, as in 谈得来 tándelái, or after to indicate impossibility, as in 吃不来 chībulái)
7
  1. earth
  2. dust
  3. clay
  4. local
  5. indigenous
  6. crude opium
  7. unsophisticated
  8. one of the eight categories of ancient musical instruments 八音 yīn
8 yàn weir

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