安营扎寨

安營紮寨

ānyíng-zhāzhài

idiom #39,536

Meanings

1 to pitch camp and set up stockades
2 to set up camp
3 to establish a base (literal or figurative)

Characters

to set up; establish

to pitch; plant

stockade; fortified camp

Examples

HSK 5

他们决定在这座城市安营扎寨，长期发展。

Tāmen juédìng zài zhè zuò chéngshì ānyíngzhāzhài, chángqī fāzhǎn.

They decided to settle in this city and build up over the long term.

HSK 6

部队在山脚下安营扎寨。

Bùduì zài shānjiǎo xià ānyíngzhāzhài.

The troops set up camp at the foot of the mountain.

HSK 6

工程队在工地附近安营扎寨。

Gōngchéng duì zài gōngdì fùjìn ānyíngzhāzhài.

The construction team set up base near the work site.

Tips

history

From the Yuan play 《两军师隔江斗智》: Zhou Yu is reported as having 安营扎寨 at Chaisang Ford, a deliberate military move. The idiom cemented as stock language for Romance-of-the-Three-Kingdoms-style war narratives.

usage

Originally strictly military. Modern extension covers any deliberate setting-up of a long-term base - companies entering a market, migrants settling in a new city, researchers starting fieldwork.

Stroke Order

安 ān

营 yíng

扎 zhā

寨 zhài